The Collected Regrets of Clover

I absolutely adored this relaxing, yet deeply emotional book about a lonely death doula trying to learn how to live a fuller life. Though the book is completely unrushed in its storytelling, it reads easily and quickly. It explores heavy, thought-provoking topics, yet leaves the reader feeling light and hopeful in the end.

Clover Brooks has experienced much death in her 36 years of life, both in her personal life and as a death doula. Clover spends time with dying individuals so that they are not alone as their life expires. After each job ends, Clover records the last words of her clients as either regrets, confessions, or advice and tries to honor them through fulfilling some of their regrets or living by their advice. The problem for Clover is that she is not very good at living. She is a loner who spends her days watching romcoms in the apartment that is still cluttered with her dead grandfather's belongings.

My favorite part of this book is the relationship Clover has with her grandfather and her elderly neighbor, Leo. I actually wish the book were a bit longer and spent more time with these characters. Clover's grandfather is a quiet, serious man with insightful commentary to share about life. I loved every scene he was in. Leo is full of life and obviously cares deeply for Clover. He pushes her to leave the comfort of her small life in order to find joy. Each of these men impacts Clover's life in a positive manner.

The book's exploration of death and grief is done well. Clover's grief over not being present when her grandfather dies leads her to her chosen occupation of death doula. She isolates herself and withdraws into the apartment that is filled with his things. The author is sympathetic to Clover's grief but also reveals its negative impacts. She explores why people get so entrenched in their grief and comes to the conclusion that “Grief is just love looking for a place to settle.” This leads to the takeaway that there is nothing wrong with holding on to grief, but the story also shows that life must still be lived and joy can still be found.

To sum it up, I felt something while reading this book. It touched me. Though all aspects of the story are not perfect (I didn't care for the romance aspects), it was an extremely enjoyable and calming reading experience and therefore earns a 5 star rating from me.