The Funeral Makers

Debut novel about Mattagash, Maine, a small, remote, small-minded town populated with the McKinnons, who control the town, and the Giffords who because of one thieving ancestor have been made to feel low and insignificant and are now proud of being a family of thieves, cheats and bullies.

Pelletier’s incredible skill in creating some of the funniest scenes while simultaneously showing the dark, dysfunctional side of the main characters’ lives – cruel parenting, loveless marriages, unfulfilled dreams – exacerbated by the drudgery of a provincial, deliberately unsophisticated town - makes it difficult to believe this is her first novel.

There were two reasons it took me so long to finish this book. First, I've been busy with work. Second, I never really felt compelled to pick it up.

I started it because to description emphasized the humor in the story. While there was some humor, the characters evoked a much stronger feeling of sympathy and even pity. Mattagash seemed like a much meaner version of Mayberry, and everyone in the story seemed to be trapped by it, rather than comfortable.

Pelletier captures small-town life like no one else. I laughed from start to finish. I know it is supposed to be poignant, as well, but to me it will always be the funniest work of fiction I've ever read. Great writing!

Mattagash Maine #1