4.5 Stars
I loved this one and couldn't put it down. This is a wonderful multi-generational story about a family rallying together around their matriarch to help her out of a tough situation. This book was light and deep at the same time. It deals with PTSD and death. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this book.

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County is exactly what I'm looking for in a book. There is so much going on--familial trauma, existential frustration, sweet romance, food, food, and more food.

In the vein of J. Ryan Standal, Claire Swinarski writes a story set in the American Midwest, full of of heartfelt characters. Community cookbooks are such a hallmark of small town America. In the south, they're usually church cookbooks, and I remember my grandmother pouring over her stained, yellow-paged church cookbooks, held together with some stray yarn. Sometimes they were really fancy and had actual binding.

There's quite a bit of sadness in this story, real pain and trauma that the characters are working through. At the end of it though, you're left with hope, not despair.

I think that's the biggest takeaway from this, it's like a warm hug from your grandmother. It's chicken soup on the stove. It's a cozy mug of tea on a crisp day. It's knowing that together we can keep going even when things get really difficult. This was my first book by Swinarski but it won't be my last.

Thank you to Harper Collins Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC. This review is my own words. I enjoyed reading this book about an elderly woman who bakes pies for funerals in her home town. She is a non-denominational pie baker since there are only two churches in town. Esther, 82 years old and Catholic, along with her friends believe that everybody in town deserves a great funeral spread even if they aren't Catholic. When it is discovered that Esther has not made her mortgage payments, the funeral ladies find a way to raise money with the help of Iris, Esther's granddaughter. Also, involved in the plot to save Esther's home are a food network TV star, his daughter, Cricket and his son, Conner. While everyone is busy saving the house, there are other dramas occurring in Ellerie County. A fun book, a realistic book of families and the problems that plague them--this book has it all: PTSD, illness, scams, death, and romantic love.

What an interesting read!

It starts out kitschy - with the funeral ladies preparing dinners for the local church funerals. But one funeral sticks out that year when a celeb chef comes to town with his estranged kids. Things get heavy from there - online elderly scams, PTSD, family drama etc. It's a really good story, I enjoyed it - it just went dark really fast. I loved the cookbook idea and all the characters are so interesting and relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

This is such a good book if you like heartwarming stories about community and family. It’s also a little bit of an ode to Midwest culture.

I loved the idea of this book more than the execution. The funeral ladies were the best part story and I wish they had been more of the main focus. The grandmas were so funny, witty and full of sass. I liked that the author explored themes of trauma and PTSD, it was well written. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and it muddied the story a bit. I wasn’t very invested in the romance. Iris and Cooper were alright, I didn’t find them super compatible. I went into this book thinking it was solely about the funeral ladies, unfortunately that isn’t what I got. I’m sure many people will love this book; it just wasn’t a good fit for me!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I find myself conflicted with this one. I found the talk of PTSD to be a bit much but I liked how the ladies gather around each other and support each other. I didn't really care for the characters, I didn't like the body shaming of another woman at a different church.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Paperback for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a Midwestern girl, this one spoke to my heart. I loved the small-town feel and the charming characters of the town. The funeral lady food aspect was completely relatable to me and relayed in a very authentic way. This book slowly unraveled the lives of the residents and it was fabulous. I loved it!

This is an emotional and tender story about tradition, grief, and community. The small-town setting provides the perfect background for this tale of found family and coming together in the midst of grief, which is portrayed in multiple ways. The author lovingly pens characters that work their way into your heart and root themselves there. A mystery woven throughout rounds out the story and makes it a solid pick for your TBR.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Avon through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reading The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County made me hungry . . . and sad but then hopefully. This book takes place in the small town of Ellerie where a core group of elderly women prep food for funerals at their local church. Esther, one of the funeral ladies, falls on hard times and her granddaughter jumps into help. The story weaves in Ivan and Cooper who attended a funeral but become entwined with Esther and her granddaughter. A good read about community coming together and the struggles of dealing with personal trauma.

Tha k you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a lovely read and I enjoyed every page. The story was uplifting and the characters were so well done. I am looking forward to much more from this author. Highly recommend

This book was charming AND went much deeper than I was expecting. I love the melding of faith with our messy, actual lives. I'm a Midwesterner and Claire really captured so much of the culture. If you're a fan of J. Ryan Stradal, you will love this sweet, layered book.

This was a sweet, fairly predictable book about a small, charming town where everyone knows everyone else and goes to great lengths to help out their neighbors. In this case, it’s Esther who needs help from her community after she’s been swindled by someone online.
Although it hit on some heavier topics, like grief and ptsd, it was mostly pretty mild and pleasant.
Thanks to #netgalley and #avonpublishing for this #arc of #thefuneralladiesofelleriecounty in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

This wasn’t what I expected, but I still love how it turned out! Would have liked to learn more about the funeral ladies and less about other side characters drama but overall was a solid read.

This was an endearing read!! I read it almost in one sitting because the characters really pulled me in. I felt connected to them and immediately immersed in their small part of the world. I loved the familial and community connections that were so prevalent in this book. I loved the cookbook/recipe touch. It mostly gave Hallmark movie vibes, but did touch on darker themes like PTSD and abuse. But this made the characters all that more relatable. It was like spending time with my grandma and her friends, in the absolute best way possible.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this title. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was great, it felt fresh and not like anything else I've read lately. It kept me intrigued all the way through, I didn't want to put it down.

I have had The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County in my TBR list for some time. I’m sorry that I didn’t read it earlier. Esther Larsen is part of a group of elderly women who provide the food when there is a funeral at their church. The story centers on Esther, her family and the funeral ladies. The characters also include a Food Network star, his grown son and teenage daughter. Family, internet fraud and PTSD and, of course, death are all covered. The characters are well developed. The writing flows well. I wish I could give more than 5 stars!

This was a very nice story with a lot of characters that I didn't like at all. I started off at least liking Esther, but by the end, I couldn't stand her either. She was so judgmental, and most of the other characters were just plain annoying.

I love the idea of a small town coming together, but these small town people were kind of horrible. They all seemed fine with drunk driving, but oh, the horror of someone being a different religion than them. There was a part when Esther went to a different church to speak to someone, and her first thought was about how fat the other woman was and whether she owned a mirror. And don't even get me started on all of the icky political undertones sprinkled throughout.

I didn't mean for this to be such a rant, but this is how it made me feel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really wanted to like The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County, but it's not quite there yet.

I think it could use a firmer editorial hand to pare down the plot lines running through this novel. The focus shifts dramatically from the titular Funeral Ladies to focus on Iris. Parallels between Esther and Iris aren't solidified as firmly as they could be because the narrative gets distracted and trips over its own feet.

There were also some more surface level anachronistic issues that bothered me, particularly as a life-long Wisconsinite. E.g. Waukegan is a town in Illinois, there are no loons in the Northwoods in winter, etc. These errors, though minor, broke the flow for me.

It seemed to me that Swinarski struggled with having too many ideas, which, in the scheme of things, is a good problem to have.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Esther Larson is part of the funeral brigade at St. Anne’s Catholic Church. This group of ladies are often the first to help out any one in need, and getting food ready for a funeral is one thing they do best. And now, Esther Larson is the one who needs help. Esther was scammed out of a lot of money from a stranger, that she thought was a friend, online. She is in very real danger of losing her house, the cornerstone of so many memories for her and her family.

Simultaneously, a funeral of a former community member Annabelle Welsh brings in Ivan Welsh (famous celebrity chef), Cooper (her stepson) and Cricket (her daughter) wanting to honor her wishes. After a reservation screw up, they end up staying at Iris’s (Esther’s granddaughter) rental property. Going through and cleaning out Annabelle’s things is not as therapeutic as it seems. For one, Ivan is still there, even though he has been an absentee parent their whole lives. Then Cooper learns of Esther’s situation, he and Iris come up with an idea – create and sell a community cookbook to help Esther raise the money she lost.

Both groups have past hurts and traumas that are currently mucking up the present.

This was an intricately woven story. I liked the intertwining of stories, from Esther’s family and Cooper’s family. I loved watching the community rally and help each other out, even helping strangers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the change to read and review this book.