The Shrouding Woman

By Loretta Ellsworth

The shrouding woman is a story about dealing with loss. The book takes place in the mid 1800s. At the opening of the book, Evie and her sister Mae have just lost their mother to illness, and they live with their father. The death in the family prompts their Aunt Flo to come live with them and help take care of them. Aunt Flo is a Shrouding woman, which provides much mystery and suspense to the story line as the reader learns about her job and what it means. A shrouding woman is someone who deals with the dead and prepares them for burial, and also provides comfort for the families.  Evie wants little to do with  Aunt Flo, but soon learns to love her and accept her into her family.

I think that this book  touched on an issue that is not often addressed with young children, but can definitely be a present force in their lives. We learn a lot about Evie’s grieving process, which may be comforting to a child who has experienced a loss. The story is relatable and well told. It is sensitive but not overdone. Although the plotline with Aunt Flo lightened the mood and added suspense and curiosity, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it because it was an odd topic with seemingly no reason. Some of the things that they talked about in terms of her shrouding duties made me a little uncomfortable. I have no problem with discomfort, as long as there is an educational purpose or reason for it. There is a chapter where the reader witnesses the process of shrouding, and Aunt Flo dealing with the dead. It talks about how she washes their bodies and their hair, uses a twig to hold their mouth shut and jaw in place, and how she puts pennies on their eyes to keep them closed. For some reason this was a little strange and uncomfortable to read about, and I didn’t really see a distinct purpose in it. The one thing I did like about that plot was that it brought in the idea of tradition, because shrouding is a job that is passed down from generation to generation, and in the end Evie ends up taking this on. I think that you could have a lot of good conversations and writings in the classroom about tradition in the lives of your students.

 

 This book did address an odd topic, however I could definitely see it being integrated into a curriculum or a classroom, because there are a lot of places for good discussions and there is room for supplementary activities related to the book. For example, there is a part in the book where they make soap, and that could be a fun activity to do in class. It is an easy book to tie in to other topics like history and social studies. The language is not too complex, however I could see it being used for a variety of age levels because there is distinct symbolism and it can be read through many different layers. There is a lot of room for perspective. Despite all of this, I still am not quite sure how I feel about it, because something about it just was not memorable and did not make a real impression on me. I think this book is not for everyone and I could definitely see some kids losing interest or becoming bored