Margins
The Shrouding Woman book cover
The Shrouding Woman
2002
First Published
3.76
Average Rating
160
Number of Pages

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.

Avg Rating
3.76
Number of Ratings
92
5 STARS
22%
4 STARS
39%
3 STARS
34%
2 STARS
4%
1 STARS
1%
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Author

Loretta Ellsworth
Loretta Ellsworth
Author · 7 books
Loretta received her BA from the University of Northern Iowa, and an MFA from Hamline University in writing for children and young adults. A former middle and high school teacher, she's the author of four young adult novels, The Shrouding Woman, In Search of Mockingbird,In a Heartbeat, and Unforgettable. Her WWII historical novel, Stars Over Clear Lake, will be published in 2017. She has four children and six grandchildren, and lives in Minnesota. Follow her on Twitter @lellsworth.
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