The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County
by Claire Swinarski
Armed with a Crock-Pot and a pile of recipes, a grandmother, her granddaughter, and a mysterious young man work to bring a community together in this uplifting novel for readers of The Chicken Sisters.
Esther Larson has been cooking for funerals in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for seventy years. Known locally as the “funeral ladies,” she and her cohort have worked hard to keep the mourners of Ellerie County fed—it is her firm belief that there is very little a warm casserole and a piece of cherry pie can’t fix. But, after falling for an internet scam that puts her home at risk, the proud Larson family matriarch is the one in need of help these days. Iris, Esther’s whip-smart Gen Z granddaughter, would do anything for her family and her community.
As she watches her friends and family move out of their lakeside town onto bigger and better things, Iris wonders why she feels so left behind in the place she is desperate to make her home. But when Cooper Welsh shows up, she finally starts to feel like she’s found the missing piece of her puzzle. Cooper is dealing with becoming a legal guardian to his younger half-sister after his beloved stepmother dies. While their celebrity-chef father is focused on his booming career and top-ranked television show, Cooper is still hurting from a public tragedy he witnessed last year as a paramedic and finding it hard to cope. With Iris in the gorgeous Ellerie County, though, he hopes he might finally find the home he’s been looking for.
It doesn’t seem like a community cookbook could possibly solve their problems, especially one where casseroles have their own section and cream of chicken soup mix is the most frequently used ingredient. But when you mix the can-do spirit of Midwestern grandmothers with the stubborn hope of a boy raised by food plus a dash of long-awaited forgiveness—things might just turn out okay. Includes Recipes
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
Esther was from an age where loving your neighbor meant loving your actual neighbor, not just adding an emoji to your Twitter name in times of crisis.
Olivia was pregnant with her first and acted as if it made her incapable of lifting a dirty cup into the dishwasher.
The funeral ladies grouped organic devotees in with PETA activists, war criminals, and people who bought designer shoes. One time Iris’s dad had accidentally brought plant-based queso to a cookout at Esther’s, and they’d acted as if he’d murdered an entire village.
It was so different from Los Angeles, where everyone walked around as if they might bestow upon you the honor of doing them a favor.
Mary Frances had come into the world screaming and never stopped. The nurse kept asking, What’s her name? What’s her name? right after she was born, and Esther couldn’t even hear the question. Her daughter refused to be put down for the first two years of her life. They had her tested for everything under the sun, but she didn’t have any medical problems. Just an opinion, at such a young age.
My Review:
I adored this tale as well as all the inhabitants residing within. The characters were knowable and endearing, as well as amusing and authentically drawn. I fell right into their storylines and felt for each and every one of them as their vulnerabilities and regrets were exposed. Ms. Swinarski’s agile writing was well-honed, well-paced, and perceptively scripted. I’ll be on the lookout for more of her clever arrangements of words.
Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee Magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough.
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This looks like a wonderful read! The story seems so comforting and I love the fact it has recipes!