The Collected Regrets of Clover (Mikki Brammer, Viking)

The Collected Regrets of Clover is the heartwarming debut novel by Australian author and journalist Mikki Brammer. Set in New York, the book centres on Clover Brooks, a socially isolated ‘death doula’ in her mid-30s. Clover has spent much of her lifetime dealing with and learning about death. Experiencing her first death during kindergarten and the loss of both her parents while in the first grade, Clover moves to New York to live with her grandfather, who passes down much wisdom about life. Clover has great compassion and ends up working with the dying, shepherding her clients through their last days of life. In the process, she also documents their ‘Regrets’, ‘Advice’ and ‘Confessions’ in her notebooks—aside from her pets, these are the things Clover would save in a fire! The most common theme in the ‘Regrets’ notebook is not telling friends and family that you love them, but it would seem Clover may have lost her chance at love. That is until she meets Sylvie, the new girl who has just moved into the building, and Sebastian, a young man whose family doesn’t talk about death even though his grandmother is dying. For readers of Ella Baxter’s New Animal, this is a promising debut from a talented writer. Brammer’s words seem to have flown effortlessly onto the page as she takes us through important life lessons about friendship, trust, compassion, finding the beauty and magic in life, and most importantly opening your heart to love.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Vanessa Pengelly is operations director of Books+Publishing Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews