The Undertaker S Wife

From award-winning author Loren D. Estleman comes The Undertaker's Wife. The undertaker's wife waits; she weaves; she builds. The undertaker practices his art, the Dismal Trade, with consummate skill. He has raised it to an art through the high craft of the Connable Method. Through it, he has managed to transform the ugliness of death into a thing of dignity and beauty. Victims brutalized by war, street fights, tavern brawls, ambushes, fires, every hazard in a raw West---these, in his hands, become presentable. Everywhere on the frontier, which erupts with life and death, he offers his skill: to the rich of San Francisco, the bawds and ruffians of the Barbary Coast, to Kansas cowboys, outlaws, soldiers, and sheriffs. He is devoted to dignifying the dead. She is devoted to making her marriage whole, in spite of the tragedy that surrounds it and, most especially, in spite of the tragedy that in one terrible afternoon strikes at its center. Today the undertaker is called to disguise the suicide of a famous financier. It is high drama, for only his art can save America's financial markets. Her task on this day is secret, an act of understanding and dedication. In the end, it is the undertaker's wife who, through love, is able to transcend death. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

On Dee Branch’s first date with Johnnie Oliver, a fourth-generation funeral director, she knew she was in for a unique relationship when he had to leave “for just a minute”—and he came back to the car with a corpse. Over twenty years later, Dee was still in love with her charming southern gentleman when he passed away suddenly in 2007. Determined to carry on Johnnie’s work, Dee earned her mortuary science degree, only to find herself no longer needed in the family business. So Dee crossed the racial divide in the most segregated industry in America and joined the staff of an African-American funeral home as a single white woman. In The Undertaker’s Wife, Oliver draws from her wealth of experience to provide candid and often hysterically funny advice on dying well and surviving the loss of those who have gone before. Her insights on the common ground of grief, survival, and the ever-present faithfulness of God (to all of us, regardless of our race, religious upbringing, or socio-economic background) will help readers prepare for one of life’s only certainties—and do it with wisdom, grace, and a healthy dose of joy.

Two westerns from Loren D. Estleman, now in one mass market edition! Journey of the Dead When Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid, he had no idea what a terrible emotional price he would pay. Haunted by memories of Billy, Garrett wanders the New Mexico desert in a fruitless pursuit of peace. Deep in the same desert, an ancient Spanish alchemist searches for the fabled philosopher's stone. The Undertaker's Wife The Wild West claimed many lives; it was Richard Connable's job to bury the dead. As the undertaker's wife, Lucy, tells of the bittersweet adventures that took them from the Barbary Coast to Will Bill Hickok's Kansas to the blizzards of Montana, she reflects on the tragedies that shaped their marriage and reveals the heart of a woman whose love can transcend death. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In The Undertaker's Wife, the reader is introduced to the Shaw family of Beaufort in rural Victoria. In this sequel, daughter Miranda comes into the world prematurely but with energy and feistiness that, through her childhood, exasperate her father but delight her mother. Uncertainty about her career choice characterises her teenage years. A simple accident sets her on a certain path, and romance enters her life. But it is the late 60s. The conservative traditions of the 40s and 50s give way to more freedom of opportunity for young people. Miranda eagerly takes up a short-term opportunity in the UK and, as a result, more painful decisions have to be made. Two tragic losses bring her to a clarity of vision about her destiny.

No one will forget the people who pass through the home of the undertaker’s wife. A fascinating life journey of the wife of an undertaker is also a practical guide to all who must plan or deal with end of life issues.

A woman describes what it was like growing up in a small town funeral home in Kentucky, where her alcoholic, cheating father was the undertaker during the segregated and tumultuous 1960s. 50,000 first printing.