This is the third book that I’ve read this year that really touched me and left me deep in thought. This was my Book of the Month pick for May and I loved everything about the book.

The book is told from the first-person viewpoint of Clover Brooks – a 30-something year old woman who works as a death doula. I had never heard of a death doula before, but it totally makes sense. While a birth doula is there to usher newborns into the world making them feel safe and loved, death doulas do the same, except they are there to help those on their death bed cross in peace. Many of Clover’s clients live alone and have no family, so she is there to listen, hold hands, and provide comfort to people as they live out their final hours.

This is definitely a character-driven novel and it focuses on Clover’s journey to self-awareness. She is probably one of the most selfless characters I have ever read. She loves helping people and loves bringing them comfort. This is surprising seeing as how Clover’s own parents never held her or hugged her and often left her with the neighbor while they went off on luxury trips. One day, they died while overseas and Clover was sent to live with her grandfather. While he was a kind and caring man, he never showed Clover much physical affection by way of hugs – he was more a pat on the head sort of guy. It really struck me that Clover was in her 30s and had never been hugged before.

Growing up, she was always considered the weirdo so she didn’t have any close friends, so when a new tenant named Sylvie moves into her building and tries to strike up a friendship with her, Clover isn’t sure how to react. Her instincts tell her to retreat and deny – it’s safer when you’re alone, but her need for connection pushes her out of her comfort zone.

Another thing that I really loved were the binders that Clover kept. She had one for regrets, one for advice and one for confessions. This is where she writes things that her clients have told her and then she uses them in her day-to-day life. For example, if someone gave her a piece of advice on their deathbed, she would write it down and then use that at some point during the next week. If a client confesses something to her (for example – a man confessed that he stole from street performers when they weren’t looking) then she would do something to atone for them , In the case of the street performer, she would leave extra money in the tips she would give them. And for the regrets, Clover would in some way honor what the person regretted they had never done by doing it for them.

Things really take a turn for Clover when she meets a man by the name of Sebastian at a death café meeting, and he is determined to get to know her. He eventually employs Clover as a death doula for his dying grandmother and it’s the connection with the grandmother that awakens something in Clover and sends her on an adventure that forever changes her and opens her eyes to the fact that while it’s nice to be kind and caring to others, sometimes you need someone to be kind to and care about you as well.

There have been so many times when I’ve read a review where someone described the book as a warm hug, and while I thought that description was nice – I never really got it until I read this book. That is exactly how I felt the entire time I read it. It’s a beautiful and very well-written novel, and while it deals with death, it is wrapped up in lots of love and hope.