omg read this immediately.
[TW: child/baby death in chapters "Love and Terror" and "Tough Mother"]

This was excellent. What an interesting look into the people who work around death. This will truest give you an appreciation for the unseen and under appreciated.

Very interesting. The book begins with the discussion from funeral home directors where one of them states that the first body someone should see is a stranger, not a loved one. Each chapter is a different aspect of death in regard to those that work in the industry or work that one wouldn’t assume is part of the death industry. She talks to an artist that does death masks, an employee of a disaster company that has dealt with mass graves, to a midwife that specializes in those that are miscarrying or having a stillborn (I’m a nurse and never heard of this, I hope this comes to America!). She also follows the process of the dead, such as embalming, cremation, and burial. She even interviews an ATP (autopsy technician) which provided a very unique chapter. Also, a crime scene cleaner and an executioner.

Her overall goal is to determine how people cope with death and what drives them to do the work that they do. Highly recommend