The DCBC met on Sunday, January 29, 2023 to discuss January's book: Mrs Death Misses Death, by Salena Godden (selected by committee).
Attendees were: Ashley, Jessy, Lauren, Miriam, and Sarah.
Mrs Death Misses Death is a novel in verse about a black, non-binary struggling writer, Wolf Willeford, who meets Mrs. Death, who is usually anthropomorphised as an older black woman (though her form also shifts throughout the novel), shares her memoirs and reflections on life, death, and humanity. Interspersed throughout are recollections of the violent deaths of people that we don't find out until the end are Wolf's ancestors, going back several generations. Wolf themself is struggling with grief and past trauma and an abusive childhood and the mental health issues that likely stem from that.
So to be honest, I've been putting off writing the recap, because what to say about it? As you will see from The Verdict, the prevailing opinion ranged from "meh" to "not for me," but I absolutely loved it. And, well, I don't want these recaps to be biased towards my own opinions. So instead of a lengthy essay going point-by-point of everything I thought was amazing about Mrs Death Misses Death, I'll just leave you with a few of my favorite passages and some random thoughts:
When you die, it will not be how you think or when you expect. I do not come for you like a cleaner when it is handy and convenient for you. Let's just hope you leave the world a better place than the one you were born into, a world fit for generations to come. Let's hope I come when you are busy doing something you want to live for. Let us hope I come when you are doing something you would die for.
***
Death is a woman. I am a woman. Surely by erasing me we have erased this power? By never portraying a woman as the representative of Death, the boss of Death, the figure of Death itself, one could debate that an important and fundamental disempowerment takes place. Perhaps this is what erasure looks like.
***
[P]eople will read your notes on this page and erase you, they'll presume Doctor Delano is a man, just because I have used Doctor. [...] But you are real, a real woman and a real female person who is a doctor doctor in a real hospital trying to help me.
That last one hit me (and I don't think I was alone in this), because, guilty. One of the central themes was the erasure of and invisibility of marginalized groups (race, gender, and class).
***
[A]ll I know for sure is unless the humans change the way they are living, they cannot change the way they are dying.
I had a new, semi-formed thought on this the other day, around the connection of this idea with the violent deaths we are presented with of Wolf's ancestors. That unless we as a society change the way we treat people, people, particularly those on the margins, will continue to die as a result of that cruelty and neglect.
***
Your heroes march for human rights and the future of the planet. Your heroes are millions of school children protesting for the climate strike. [...] Your heroes are everywhere, they walk among us. Your heroes are waking up every day, skint and underpaid and busking it, your heroes are making work, beautiful books an music and art that you cannot see or find or read as it is drowned out by all the propaganda and noise and adverts and the fear-mongering and the performative cruelty of politicians. It is your job, your only job, to seek out and support and nurture heroes, this is all your responsibility. We can all do our part in the chain, to help others, to help the others who help the others who inspire and help the others. [...] You are losing your libraries, museums, galleries, independent bookshops, pubs and music venues. So the beautiful spaces where thinkers and writers and artists could meet and share work and gather and blossom and dream are being erased. The survival of the hero is up to you all now.
From the chapter We Could Be Heroes, which was my personal favorite chapter because it was to me one of the central theses of the book, the value of art and artists to humanity in the face of a capitalist society that doesn't value those things. It asks us if we are willing to fight for the things we claim to care about the most.
***
Otherwise what is the actual point of all of this? What was the point? Why are you all here if not for that? You are here for love. To share the love.
***
To grow old is a great gift; it is the best of gifts. And when you grow old well, it is constantly nearly Christmas...
***
Do you want to walk with the living, to really live your one life or will you continue to pretend to live? Do you live a lie or do you live your truth? Think about it, take your time, take all the time you need, take one day at a time. Do your lifetime in your own lifetime.
I liked how the ending mirrored the beginning, when Wolf first meets Mrs. Death, with Wolf choosing Life, and living one day at a time. Love a hopeful note.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. Mrs Death Misses Death clearly wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but those are sometimes the best book club discussions.
The Verdict
Taken from the average DCBC member ratings on Goodreads who had marked the book as read and rated at the time of this writing:
Mrs Death Misses Death: 3.00 stars
Thank you to ME (Sarah) for hosting! (Oh stop, you're too kind, it was a pleasure.) :-D
Next Month: February 2023: The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston (selected by Kris).
