The Undertaker : A Memoir of the First Woman Funeral Director in the Core of Brooklyn

by Laura Del Gaudio

The Undertaker, A Memoir of the First Woman Funeral Director in the Core of Brooklyn  is Laura Del Gaudio's gripping story of learning the family undertaking business from sitting under the kitchen table as a child. It is how she learned empathy in the face of unspeakable traumas. Licensed at the age of twenty-one, she became a third generation funeral director who ran a successful funeral home which was located at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. The author has written an original story out of her own experience of growing up. The Undertaker is about joy, suffering, family, community, healing, triumph, and what it means to be loyal. If you have the courage to read this book, you will learn a lot about real life and death.

220 pages, Paperback

Published November 22, 2019

Reviews

[Mike Keren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book. The author has captured a time and place —Brooklyn in the 60s— as she reflects on her life as it was. Her big Italian family is full of colorful characters and the author looks back on them with admiration, awe and contempt when called for. Her exposure to the “family business” at a young age while hiding under the table through her being licensed herself and joining her dad in the business is a back drop for her to explore family dramas, mental illness and the long term effects of trauma.
I was hoping for a gossipy read of wild funerals and strange requests, but this book is so much more.

[Arlene O'Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting family history.

I read this book while staying with my daughter Lori and her husband Mike Scardino. Mikes parents were Uncle Benny and Aunt Helen Scardino. I knew them later in their life and saw a different side of them. I grew up with so many Italian friends in Brooklyn. This book brought back many memories of the old neighborhood. Last evening Mike reminisced about fishing with his dad. (Benny)