Review: The Undertaker's Daughter
The Undertaker's Daughter is the story of a young girl growing up in a funeral home. Growing up, Kate is set apart from others in her small town first by living in a funeral home, and second, because she is curiously colorblind in a southern town still afraid of desegregation. Everything is told matter of fact: from her sister's outbursts to a brief mention of the Vietnam War to Kate's first kiss. Looking back at her life, Kate is somehow able to write her story with the eyes of the child who first lived it, while using the vocabulary of an adult. While this is not a children's book, you can see the curiosity of a child through the words on the page. This book also gives up a glimpse into a small southern town after segregation and the history that binds it's citizens, made more interesting as the story is told by a child without the bias of her elders.
I can't imagine living in a funeral home, let along growing up in one. After reading Kate Mayfield's book, I can see how it formed part of who she is and her interactions with people. From seeing touching her first corpse to paying piano at a funeral, death is a normal part of Kate's life. Reading this book helps me to understand that death, while it is never wanted, is a part of everyone's life - some more than others - and not something to be feared.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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