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Content Warnings
- Language
- Loss of Parent
- Gun Violence
- Extensive talk on PTSD

Rating this one is hard, and I'm torn! I did enjoy most of this book, but there were multiple parts that I had a big problem with and made me want to quit reading a few times if I'm being totally honest.

This was laugh out loud funny at multiple moments throughout but also touched on some very heavy subjects, including PTSD. I loved the quirky/sassy personalities of the funeral ladies. I loved the community of Ellerie County. Everyone supported each other and banned together in times of grief and hardship, true to small town living. I loved the family bond between Esther, her daughter, and granddaughters. These things really made this a wholesome and comforting read.

Here's where I had issues:
Although Catholicism and related practices were woven throughout this book, it in NO way displayed any elements of faith or displayed any characteristics of a true Christian. There were many uses of cuss words, including multiple uses of GD. A 13 year old child also cussed a few times when speaking to her father and legal- guardian brother. In one conversation between two characters, one mentions not even believing while the other said she wished she didn't believe. There was another time that God was referred to "Mr. Hot Shit, "which was very disappointing and honestly offensive.

I can overlook language, and I can accept a character who has different beliefs and morals than me, but the religious aspects of this book just really made me feel some type of way. As mentioned above, apart from that, this was a great great read. I would still recommend this to others.

Thank you, NetGalley, Avon Publishing and Harper Voyager, for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

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I enjoyed my journey to Ellerie County and my visits with the Funeral ladies! I loved the contrast between gen z and the boomer generation and the conflicts that each deals with in our internet based society. This was a fun read with some deep issues embedded in the story. It gave me a little nudge of “Kitchens of the Great Midwest” probably just because of the setting and culture h the story. 4 stars!

Did not expect this book to take the turns it did but wow I am INVESTED. I’d like to move to ellerie county and become one of the funeral ladies.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read!

The setting alone is like eating apple pie on the holidays! Such a warm-hearted comfort read, the perfect book for a break in your favorite go to genre!

This book a quick comfort read set in small town Wisconsin and centers on 3 POV: Esther Larsen, a stern but caring matriarch, her granddaughter Iris, and Cooper who is finds himself in town for the funeral of his stepmother with his sister and father. I loved the setting- the small town pride and midwestern spirit is strong in this book. I also enjoyed the depiction the small town, the complicated family dynamics, and the friendships of the funeral ladies themselves. This book had me yearning for a community of my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this multigenerational story set in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

What I loved:
-The Funeral Ladies—I want to have a cocktail with them!
-The setting of Wisconsin, through most of the seasons. This FL girl loved reading the vivid descriptions of life on a lake.
-The Catholic Church community and 70 years of memories.
-Found family, amongst friends and strangers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the advanced copy.

I loved this book so much! The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie county is definitely one of my top reads of the year. The Wisconsin scenery is right at home for me (WI born & raised) and I loved the strong friendships that the women have created over the years. They cook together for funeral luncheons where they discuss what happens in their lives. One of the women falls for an online scam, and they work together to save her home. Some really heavy topics are brought up and I think it really made me love and connect with this book even more so. Trigger warnings are gun violence, mass shooting, PTSD, emotional abuse, alcoholism and flashbacks of Vietnam.

“The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County” by Claire Swinarski is sure to be the next big book club hit! The book is very engaging and has a great cast of characters who pull you into the story right away and make you feel like a friend. I love the bond between Iris and her family and Esther and her Funeral Ladies. This reminds me of my own family, friends, and the power of community. Church groups, friend groups, and library book clubs would all be great audiences for this book.

The story deals with some heavy topics and is filled with generational wisdom but doesn’t feel overdone. It is said that children are more like their grandparents than their parents, and we see this play out between Iris and Esther. Both women have boundless compassion and strength. This is both a great gift and a burden. This compassion is what gets Esther into trouble in the first place- she is in danger of losing her house due to an internet scammer. While she feels this is her burden to bear and her mistake, her friends, family, and community quietly rally around her. Esther has made the food for Ellerie County funerals for years, helps others in their times of need, and never once gossips or complains about it. When it is her turn for similar support, she is reluctant. Iris and the Funeral Ladies decide to make a community cookbook to raise funds. This project ultimately becomes bigger than Esther, Iris, or the Funeral Ladies ever imagined. It is an important reminder to honor and cherish this moment in time, preserve those memories, and remember the past. I can see groups reading this book and getting together to discuss it while bringing their own important dishes and recipes to swap.

Some trigger/content warnings would be helpful for the beginning of the book. The synopsis doesn’t mention that a past mass shooting plays a major role in the novel. Flashbacks, PTSD, emotional abuse, and alcoholism are also prevalent.

While I did love this book, I gave this novel 4 stars out of 5 because some of the characters felt less developed and their plot lines felt less necessary to the book overall. Felix’ characteristics changed depending on how he was needed for the plot. In some part, this was due to how other characters remembered Felix, but overall, he felt inconsistent and only written as a plot device. We also started to see some generational trauma be dealt with by both Iris and Cooper, but it would have been nice to see that go further. The ending wrapped up very quickly, and perhaps needed an epilogue after a longer time to really show true growth and change. I’m not sure the mass shooting and PTSD storylines were actually necessary to the book, it could have focused on Esther, Iris, and the lives of the other Funeral Ladies and been just as successful. However, it did allow characters to work through some personal issues. Also, very minor, but the synopsis says it includes recipes and there is only one recipe, and that recipe does not include a time or temperature for baking. Having the pie crust recipe, then an actual pie recipe to go with it may be better. I would have also liked to have seen the cheesy potato casserole recipe, which was mentioned multiple times in the story.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book. The story is engaging and powerful. It is a testament to the power of women, friendship, and community. It is also testament to the power of homemade food to heal the heart and mind. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and HarperCollins for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County are known for providing food for those suffering the loss of a family member. Esther is one of those ladies. She naively gives an internet scammer $30,000 to help with their (fake) pregnancy, she is in trouble with the bank and close to losing her home. The funeral ladies (and Esther’s granddaughter, Iris) work together to make a community cookbook to raise the funds.

Cooper Welsh is the son of the Food Network star, Ivan Welsh. When his stepmom dies and they return to Ellerie County for the funeral, the funeral ladies make certain they don’t run out of food. And when their accommodations don’t work out, Iris rents them the cabin that she just purchased.

I liked this book. I love the funeral ladies. Esther is a spunky elderly woman who hates handouts and laziness. While she lives in Wisconsin, I think she will remind you of any Southern grandma. This little group would be a hoot.

There are some tough subjects: death, PTSD, cancer, domestic abuse.

🛑SPOILER🛑

One thing I didn’t like- You find out Cooper has PTSD from a mass shooting while he was a medic. When he starts dating Iris, it’s portrayed as very sweet and romantic. But, then after he becomes aggressive a few times, it starts flashing back to more minor infractions that you weren’t really privy to before. I feel like I would have personally preferred to “live thru” those episodes as they happened rather than more as a flashback. Because it almost felt like it came out of nowhere. That may have been a “me” thing though.

I enjoyed the growth and development 😃 that all the main characters went through in the book. The plot is engaging and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

I Absolutely loved this book! So much so it gets one of my rare five star ratings. Some of you can relate to my admitting that I shoved off a whole pile of work today so I could keep reading and finish this sweet book in one day (and it was so worth it!). Who wouldn't want to live in a place like Ellery with all the kind and giving people? Fun (and realistic) mostly elderly characters who cherish the ability to feed people in need almost more than their close friendships. Can a hug be a book? If this one, then yes!

Oh my gosh. How do you even write a review on a book like this. These characters feel like family before you are done with the story. As someone from a small, religious town this is an incredible show of community and loyalty the residents of small towns have.
Esther, what a complex women (like so many are) having lived most of her life but always striving for more, not just for herself but friends, family and strangers. Fran and Olivia, being so supportive and loving of their family. Iris, I absolutely adore, she is such a real character. She has feelings and experiences I can definitely relate with. I also admire her love for her fellow humans, it’s just amazing. She definitely gets it from her grandma. Cooper, you can’t help but feel for the guy, all he wanted to do was help people. I am so glad in the end he made the choice to get himself help. I just love Ellerie County and adore the funeral ladies of St. Anne’s. The best book I have read this year!

I also have had chicken sisters on my book shelf and definitely will be reading it next!!

In the last few years, I've absolutely fallen in love with Midwestern stories that span multiple generations, from Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club to Shotgun Lovesongs. The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County absolutely hit the spot: it's full of true-to-life characters who love their community (and good recipes!). This book touched on grief, faith, PTSD, and love in such special ways. I can't wait for the world to read it!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC!

PS: This cover is fantastic

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski is a captivating literary masterpiece. From the very beginning, this book envelops readers in a comforting embrace, skillfully employing food as a powerful symbol of communication. It introduces a remarkable sisterhood of women, who have been inseparable since their youth, residing in the charming confines of a small town.

This book was a roller coaster from start to finish. This book was so quick and it is so easy to just lose yourself into the world. It was much darker and dug into some deeper issues than I was expecting. I was expecting just a fun lighthearted read but this is the kind of book that stays with you. This was my first Claire Swinarski, but it will not be my last.

A lovely novel about a Midwestern community that felt like it could have been my family- a heartwarming book!

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County is a book that reminds me of my extended family and life in a small Midwestern town.

This book is about Esther, her granddaughter, Iris, and Cooper who moves is in town to bury his step-mother. However, in my opinion, there really is a fourth main character - the entire community.

When Esther falls prey to a scammer and loses a large amount of money, her beloved home is in danger of being lost and the community, led by Iris, comes together to save her and her home.

Of course, Iris and Cooper have a love story, but the main story is how a good community takes care of it's own and the love - through the funeral dinners, for example - is just a way that love is shown.

I really enjoyed this book and am going to recommend it to my book club when it comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I'm giving this one 3.75 stars, rounded up. PTSD, emotional relationship abuse, cancer, alcoholism, death and grief trigger warnings.

A quick, heartwarming story of a small town in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. I found myself relating wholeheartedly to the feel of the location, being a Midwesterner who has grown up with northern cabin vacations myself. I could absolutely tell the author was from the area also–mentions of various city names, Kwik Trip, all the cheese (though literally everyone knows this is what Wisconsin is known for lol), Spotted Cow (you KNOW this is THE Wisconsin beer!!), and of course, the good ol' Culver's. It's little things like that that make me more appreciative of a book, that the author understood and acknowledged the location in which they set their book.

I honestly didn't know what to expect after reading the book's description. But hey, I love food and I love complex family stories, and along with the beautifully illustrated cover, I was sold, and ended up pleasantly surprised. Three generations of Larson women, and each have such distinct personalities. Esther absolutely is the stern, yet warm grandmother figure you'd expect. Very much set in her ways, but is always there whenever someone is in need. Fran, Esther's daughter, isn't a main character, but serves as a supportive figure to both Esther and her own daughter. Which brings us to Iris, the pretty remarkable Gen Z (this is something that is mentioned a bit too often IMO, but pretty on point for Gen Z–they do like to remind us all of their generation) granddaughter of Esther. A freelance graphic designer and owner of her own home + a cabin Airbnb she's renovating on her own? Wow, goals. This next brings us to Cooper, our third and final POV of the book, who is brought to Ellerie County due to the death of his stepmother Annabelle(personal opinion but I hate whenever I see this name in books–that darn doll's face always pops up in my mind), with his sister Cricket and famous chef but absent father Ivan. Cooper suffers from PTSD, and we see the consequences of that throughout the book. The PTSD was written very well in my eyes, and was extremely tough to read through. Such a complex thing that could have been glazed over, but was given the gravitas it deserves.

I'll be honest, the first thing that drew me into this book was the cover. As a graphic designer and illustrator, I thought it was so beautiful! However, after reading this book, I feel like I would have loved to see the cover mimic the simple, brown and green one of the Funeral Ladies' cookbook? A little missed opportunity to me. The writing style was also very matter-of-fact, which isn't necessarily bad, but not usually my favorite. I would have also loved an epilogue to this story! I feel like that would have pushed my review a little higher.

Overall, enjoyed this read. And a very special thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books/Harper Voyager for sharing this advanced copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Funeral Ladies provide meals to mourners after funerals. A celebrity's wife was tragically killed in a car accident but had wanted to be buried back home in Wisconsin.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. It gets complicated. Of course grief could be a trigger, but I wasn't expecting PTSD to also be included.

As a Midwesterner, I really wanted to like The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley for introducing me to a new-to me author. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Publishing for the advance read copy of The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for approving my ARC request.

Probably between 3 and 4 stars, decided to round down. Providing feedback to publisher. .

I enjoy stories about small towns with women of a certain age and The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie county fits that bill perfectly. The ladies of the town are excellent cooks who are in charge of the funeral luncheons at St. Annes. Not only do they cook together they are long time friends who are known to gather and share a nip or two of their beverage of choice as they discuss what's going on around them, When they learn that their long time member, Esther has fallen for an on-line scammer to the tune of $30,000.00 they all jump in (along with Esther's family) to gather money to save Esther's lakefront home.

I enjoyed this book. The Wisconsin scenery, the small town close knit group of friends, Esther's family - especially her granddaughters meld together in a believable way. The famous chef and his off spring who rent an airbnb make up a good part of the plotline.

Trigger warning for PTSD due to a random shooting as well as Vietnam conflict flashbacks, The difference between treating PTSD in today's world compared to how it was in past is spot on,

I will certainly read more by this author and thank #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for a fair and honest review.