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  3. The Shrouding Woman

EBOOK

The Shrouding Woman

Loretta Ellsworth
5
(2)
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Pages
160
Year
2007
Language
English
Publisher
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

About

The moving story of a young girl's struggle to face her mother's death.

"She traveled to our small white house near the Iowa border on a buckboard, her green bag caked with the dusty road ... I knew that she was called "the Shrouding Woman" because I'd heard Papa use those words to describe her. I didn't know what it meant but I knew it had something to do with death."

It was once common practice for small towns to have a shrouding woman to help put their dead to rest. Still, when eleven-year-old Evie's Aunt Flo-herself a shrouding woman-comes to town, Evie knows little of a shrouding woman's ways and wants nothing to do with this aunt of hers, especially after her own mother's recent death. But as this mysterious woman slowly makes her way into Evie's life, her strong and sensitive presence brings far more than signs of death to a grieving girl's home.

Set in the mid-1800s, this beautifully written story, centered on the little-known practice of shrouding, touches on death and healing with sensitivity and quiet dignity.

Related Subjects

  • Girls & Women
  • Young Adult Fiction
  • Death, Grief, Bereavement
  • Social Themes
  • 19th Century
  • United States
  • Historical

Reviews

"An intriguing topic, responsible period research, and skillful thematic development make this an accessible and unthreatening introduction to a neglected area of women's history."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Reminiscent in tone and setting of Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall…. An important offering from a very talented newcomer."
School Library Journal

Artists

Loretta EllsworthAuthor