The Collected Regrets of Clover - Mikki Brammer - ★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Mikki Brammer

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction

RATING: 3.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: An interesting debut work. The main character generated pretty mixed emotions, so your enjoyment of the novel will depend on how much you like her. Smooth and straightforward read. More of a contemporary drama than romance, which is always better for me.

Story Synopsis:

Thirty six year old Clover’s grandfather (who raised her) passed away when she was travelling. To compensate for her guilt at not being by his side during his final moments, Clover becomes a death doula in NYC. She has always been fascinated by death, and was a student of thanatology (the study of death from various perspectives), so choosing to be by people’s side as they die ought to be a more rewarding experience than researching death.

Her latest client is the feisty ninety-one year old Claudia, who speaks to Clover about her first love and her regrets. Through Claudia’s journey, Clover begins to question her own life choices. Has she been so obsessed with death that she forgot to live?

The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Clover.

Bookish Yays:

✔ The secondary characters in the book, whether they get meaty roles or tiny ones, are fascinating. Claudia, Leo (Clover’s old neighbour), Clover’s grandpa (in flashback appearances), Sylvia (Clover’s new neighbour), Bessie (The bookstore owner) – so many wonderful and varied characters, each with their own charm and flaws. Many other readers seem to have disliked Sebastian but I liked him too. He was very clear about his intentions, he didn’t deceive Clover any time, and he was the only one who had the guts to tell her straight to her face what a sham she was.

 

✔ This is the first book I have read focussing on a ‘death doula’. The intricacies of choosing this as a career option are brought out well by the plot. I loved how Clover kept three notebooks – Regrets, Confessions, and Advice – and used these in her own life. Though the book is full of death, it still works as an ode to life and is hardly ever morbid or depressing. It was also interesting to learn that there are places called ‘death cafes’!

 

✔ I loved the underlying theme of the book. We all hear of regrets on the death bed, but do we plan to change anything about the way we live our life? Though the ending is also quite guessable because of this, I appreciate how the book showed Clover making changes in her life because of regrets, both of hers and of her clients.

✔ Though Clover’s thoughts do turn to seeking a potential romantic partner in one character, the romantic angle isn’t given the primary spot in the story. The main angle stays on Clover’s journey of self-discovery, which involves romance as well.

 

✔ There are some truly amazing lines and analogies in the book, especially about death and grief. The one that compared grief with a dust storm was just outstanding.

 

✔ The ending is good, though a bit too sugary sweet.

Bookish Nays:

❌ Clover. Sigh… How do you solve a problem like Clover? In many ways, she had her good qualities. She was caring and understanding with her clients, she used her ‘regrets’ notebook to make amends for their regrets, she adored her grandfather and her old neighbour Leo,… At the same time, the list of negatives is much lengthier. Clover doesn’t prove herself a trustworthy person in any sense. And the problem doesn’t just stop at the usual character flaws such as lying. No! Clover has to spy on a neighbour with her binoculars. Clover has to judge every person she meets based on their physical appearance – every single one, no exceptions. Clover has no concept of client confidentiality, and reveals their personal disclosures to anyone interested. Clover lies to anyone and everyone, but hates it when they are lying to her. As the titular character who is narrating the story to us in first person, Clover is the cornerstone the book rests upon. But when the foundation itself is so shaky, how will the plot surpass Clover’s flaws? The secondary characters do help to some extent, but ultimately, this is Clover’s show. So if you don’t connect with her, there goes your reading experience.

 

❌ The above are problems in Clover’s personality. But even greater is the lack of consistency in Clover’s character detailing. She is shown to be a thirty-six year old who has been brought up by an aged grandfather, is intelligent, and has travelled the world independently in her early twenties. All this should point to a person who ought to be aware of life and practical in her outlook. Yet Clover is written as an immature and naïve woman who doesn’t know the basics of love or life, and hasn’t kissed anyone romantically, ever!? I can understand how she may not be more socially open because of her introverted grandpa and still grieving because of his sudden death, but surely her solo travels and her long professional experience equipped her to face life in her mid-thirties.

 

❌ The romantic track (the actual one, which begins pretty late in the book) is too convenient and too instant to be believable. I found it quite unconvincing, clichéd, and unnecessary. Surely a woman character can develop her self-worth and confidence without the aid of romance!

Overall, this debut work does have its pros. Through the strong premise and the myriad secondary characters, you too will start wondering if you are living your life well or are just existing.

 

A part of Clover reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant or Molly from The Maid, two nicely-written socially awkward (non-neurodivergent) fictional characters of recent times. But Eleanor and Molly made me root for them despite their anti-social tendencies. Clover made me want to knock some sense into her. If you do pick this up, I hope you like Clover so that the book clicks better with you.

Recommended with reservation.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Collected Regrets of Clover”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

🚩 PS: I am using this postscript to register my strong displeasure at the term “doga”. I can somehow accept (with great reluctance) that people have yoga classes for dogs, but calling it “doga”? Ridiculous! It is so disrespectful of the original discipline of yoga, which is supposed to be a spiritual and meditative pursuit towards emotional and physical well-being. The word appears multiple times in the book, but I can’t consider it as a flaw of the book itself because the book/author merely echo what's apparently the norm in NYC. Hence this little red flag outside of the review. Cultural appropriation is anyway a problem, but adopting another culture's respected practices and taking them, literally, to the dogs is a whole new level of ignorance and deserves censure.