Putting Makeup On Dead People by Jen Violi

Donna’s father died four years ago; right before she started high school. Soon after her older brother left for college. Donna, her mother, and her little sister have all been dealing with their grief in different ways over the course of Donna’s high school years. After her father passed Donna became quiet and reclusive. She believes it is better to feel nothing than experience grief any longer. She has friends but doesn’t say much. She focuses on school and tries to get through each day. But on the inside she misses her father; so much that it socially paralyzes her. Donna will soon graduate high school and then she will be forced out of the cocoon she has built for herself.

Donna’s metamorphosis starts when she attends a funeral for a school mate who tragically died. The funeral is held at the same funeral home that held her father’s. She can’t help but notice how peaceful the corpse looks in the coffin and how well the makeup makes the deceased look dignified. As she gets up to get some air she notices a greeter who wasn’t at her father’s funeral. After chatting with him she discovers he is actually the mortician and is filling in for his brother. She compliments him on his work as she leaves.

She keeps thinking of the mortician the rest of the day, and how he helps prepare the dead to say their last goodbye. She begins to like the idea of helping people with their grief more and more. Soon she makes a choice to apply to mortuary school and intern at the funeral home over the summer after she graduates. What Donna doesn’t expect is that her new direction will help shatter her cocoon of solitude. Her mother objects and wants her to attend the same college as her brother. Donna will not let it go and applies to mortuary school anyway and this begins a feud with her mother.

What started as a simple decision that has brought her peace has now torn apart her relationship with her mother. Donna’s life is turned upside down and she begins divesting herself of her mother’s influence. Can Donna get her life back under control? Can her relationship with her mother be repaired? Can two grieving people who depended on each other for so long find lives on their own? Donna is about to start living life rather than just watch it go by. But life isn’t always unicorns and rainbows. There is always death, waiting for everyone, and perhaps our attitude about death can tell us a lot about our attitude about life.

Putting Makeup On Dead People is an excellent book. It hits the right mix of humor, self-discovery, family drama, and of course death. I highly recommend this book, but it is appropriate for ages 16 and up due to portrayals of physical intimacy and drinking.