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

The Undertaker, A Memoir of the First Woman Funeral Director in the Core of Brooklyn by Laura Del Gaudio is a story of growing up over a funeral home, attending funeral directing school, morgue duty, lifelong friends, post-traumatic stress, alcoholism, and being the best damn funeral director for every color and nationality in downtown Brooklyn. The funeral homes—both the author's grandfather’s and father’s—were in Historic Downtown Brooklyn, where the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights, the famous Promenade, the Central Borough Hall and the Courts were all within walking distance; where George Washington and Walt Whitman at one time were just the neighborhood guys that ended up doing okay for themselves. It’s where the world either lives or passes through. This is where science took hold of the author. The Undertaker is her lively story of learning the family business from under the kitchen table and becoming the first women funeral director in Brooklyn. It’s also the story of how she learned empathy in the face of unspeakable traumas.