The Collected Regrets of Clover

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Synopsis

Mikki Brammer’s The Collected Regrets of Clover is a big-hearted and life-affirming debut about a death doula who, in caring for others at the end of their life, has forgotten how to live her own, for readers of The Midnight Library.

What’s the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you can’t give yourself a beautiful life?

From the day she watched her kindergarten teacher drop dead during a dramatic telling of Peter Rabbit, Clover Brooks has felt a stronger connection with the dying than she has with the living. After the beloved grandfather who raised her dies alone while she is traveling, Clover becomes a death doula in New York City, dedicating her life to ushering people peacefully through their end-of-life process.

Clover spends so much time with the dying that she has no life of her own, until the final wishes of a feisty old woman send Clover on a trip across the country to uncover a forgotten love story––and perhaps, her own happy ending. As she finds herself struggling to navigate the uncharted roads of romance and friendship, Clover is forced to examine what she really wants, and whether she’ll have the courage to go after it.

Probing, clever, and hopeful, The Collected Regrets of Clover turns the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life. 

Synopsis source: The StoryGraph

Review

Genre(s): Fiction, Contemporary
HB&W Rating: 3.5 stars
View on StoryGraph, Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble, Amazon

I’ve had this book sitting on my TBR since it came out in 2023. It wasn’t until I received, read, and loved a galley of Brammer’s latest book, Good Joy, Bad Joy , that I remembered I had this one on my shelf. I admit that I was hoping that one of the characters from her second book made a cameo in this one (can it be a cameo when you read them out of order?) but alas, she wasn’t.

I enjoyed this one, but not as much as Good Joy, Bad Joy. The growth this author has achieved is clear between her first and second books. This book, her debut, struggled a little with pacing and I have to admit that I spent the first half waiting to get to the good stuff. I knew it was coming, so I patiently waited and I was rewarded. Until then, I had to content myself with the poignant way that Brammer writes—just lovely, truly.

In a book where the main character is a death doula, it’s clear that the topic of death will come up. Grief is also heavily prevalent as the main character worked her way through her own personal grief and attempted to help others with their own. There were several insights into the topic but my favorite quote from the book was a reflective bit toward the end: “Grief is just love looking for a place to settle.”

This book is a beautiful reminder that grief is a process but you’re meant to keep living, not just existing.

Until next time,

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