The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer ~ Review

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 road trip 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 is perfect for readers of The Midnight Library and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine as it turns the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life.

Goodreads Choice Award, Nominee for Best Fiction (2023), Nominee for Best Debut Novel (2023)

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Death

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2023

Get Your Copy: Amazon | Goodreads | B&N

This book was everything I hoped it would be! It’s the kind of book that stays with you long after you read it which seems fitting being that it’s about the life of a death doula and the lasting impression her clients would leave in her heart long after they’re gone.

Clover is the kind of character that you instantly adore, quirks and all! Growing up without loving parents and more loss than one person should experience led to a reclusive lifestyle. Which is why, in her 30s, she found herself with only her sweet elderly neighbor for a friend. It felt safer for her to avoid most human interaction while at the same time giving so much compassion and dedication to her clients as she sat with them through their final moments. While most people are afraid to talk about death, Clover was surrounded by it.

Death is a natural part of life – everyone’s flame will flicker out at some point – and I love how this book showed the importance of embracing that and allowing the grief to present however it needs to and take as long as it needs to. You’d think with an underlying foundation of death, this book would be a real downer, but it was actually full of passion for life, appreciation for those who have lived and died before us, and great respect for those who have loved and lost.

I absolutely loved following Clover’s story as she met the client that would inevitably change her life. Every now and then someone enters your life that shifts your perspective and therefore your whole world. This book captured that magic beautifully. While Clover did branch out and discover some new friendships along the way that caused her confidence to grow, it was ultimately her own hard work that led to finding her true self. Watching Clover dig into feelings she had long avoided to move past them and find beautiful ways to heal felt like such an honor.

For me, there always comes a moment with a book I’m falling in love with where I desperately hope the ending doesn’t ruin it for me. This book had me crying all the way through the end, in the best way! Tears of loss, tears of redemption, tears of renewal. This book will stay in my heart for a long, long time.

Mikki Brammer is from Tasmania, Australia and now lives in New York City by way of France and Spain. She writes about architecture, art and design for publications including Architectural Digest, ELLE Décor, and Dwell. The Collected Regrets of Clover is her first novel.