Sooner or later, in one form or another, everyone must deal with death—the deaths of loved ones, acquaintances, and eventually, their own. But while most of us go through life avoiding this truth to the best of our ability, Mikki Brammer has written a novel about a woman who has embraced death, and commits her life to helping people pass peacefully from their current life to whatever comes next.
The Collected Regrets of Clover follows Clover Brooks, a 36-year-old woman who was mostly raised by her grandfather in New York City. When she was just five years old, Clover witnessed her first death—her kindergarten teacher, Mr. Hyland, keeled over while reading Peter Rabbit to the class. But while the other children panicked, Clover wasn’t afraid of being with the dying man:
“I moved close enough to Mr. Hyland to hear the final push of air from his lungs. As the pandemonium echoed down the hall and other teachers rushed into the classroom, I sat beside him, holding his hand calmly as the last blush of red disappeared from his face.”
More than twenty-five years later, Clover works as a death doula, and she has ushered nearly 100 people through their final days and moments. However, Clover’s comfort with death has not translated into a fulfilling life. More than thirteen years after her grandfather died, Clover has still not removed any of his possessions from the shared apartment.
And despite living in the heart of one of the most bustling cities in the world, Clover is lonely. She may be an expert at handling death—but that doesn’t mean she has figured out how to grieve her own losses, or how to open herself to relationships that will inevitably end.
Despite these heavy topics, the book is not a depressing read. In fact, "for all its talk of death, The Collected Regrets of Clover is never dark or grim. This feel-good story is beautiful, heartwarming and ultimately hopeful" (Reader's Digest).
As one might expect, things do change for our quirky lead character: in order to fulfill the final wishes of one of her clients, Clover finds herself on a cross-country trip to unearth an old love story. Forced out of her comfort zone, Clover is presented with opportunities for friendship and romance—she just needs to find the courage to let herself have them.
Want to read it for yourself? Pick up your copy of The Collected Regrets of Clover now.
The Collected Regrets of Clover
"The Collected Regrets of Clover is a warm-hearted, tender story of love, life-lessons and letting go. Full of wisdom, it’s a novel that handles with profound sensitivity and delicacy important questions that face us all, while fostering a joyful sense of hope for the future. Clover is a beguiling character who has so much more to offer the world than she knows, and it’s a sheer delight to watch as her horizons expand. The Collected Regrets of Clover leaves us contemplating what it means to live our lives to the full, without regrets. A beautiful, thought-provoking novel." ––Sarah Haywood, New York Times bestselling author of The Cactus
