Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen

Cleo and Paloma are best friends, and like some best friends do, they get pregnant at the same time. They look forward to the births of their children, and raising them together along with their loving husbands. That is the plan, until the day Paloma brings her baby home, and Cleo's baby unexpectedly dies during childbirth. Cleo is faced with the unimaginable task of grieving a child she hardly got the chance to meet. Unable to manage her pain, Cleo cuts herself off from Paloma as well as her husband and parents. On a whim, she decides to leave her job as an actuary and take a job at a local funeral home, because the firm respects and takes care of the dead. They handled her late daughter, and she wants to remain connected to the staff. It is within the walls of this funeral home that she takes in nourishment and gains strength. "Loving someone is like a speeding train to heartbreak," she discovers, but also finds that heartbreak does not mean that everything else stops. Nguyen's writing is poignant but at the same time no-nonsense, and even humorous. There is no rule book for loss, but within the safety of the funeral home, she gathers enough strength from the other employees to open the door on her life once again.  It is only then that she is able to return to her husband, friends and family. "Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead" is an introspective story of loss, love, life and rebirth. To buy this book on Amazon click here.