The Dead Moms Club

November 1, 2017
Spencer opens her memoir by announcing herself the president of the Dead Moms Club and welcomes readers to the organization. She knows it's a membership that no one wants, and she wishes more than anything that she could renounce hers. Her mother passed away quickly after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis when the author was 27, a self-professed woman-child who desperately still needed her mother for guidance. Spencer recounts her memories of her mother, her mother's passing, her all-encompassing grief, and finding her way forward. Although her memoir is a raw and moving account of a daughter's loss, Spencer's comedic wit prevails, and readers will more often than not appreciate her irreverent, laugh-out-loud funny handling of a bleak subject. Included are cutout cards to give to strangers explaining that your mother just died, thanks for asking, and a chapter on Mother****ing Mother's Day. This book is not likely one for the newly bereaved but could prove a comforting and surprising companion in the months and years following a loss.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)