Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead (Canadian)

Mai Nguyen

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Book cover for Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead (Canadian)
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Book cover for Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead (Canadian)
Image for variant 9781668081181

Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead (Canadian)

Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead (Canadian)

Mai Nguyen

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Description

A darkly humorous yet uplifting novel about a grieving mother who starts working at a funeral home and discovers that the best way to honor the dead is to live--from the author of the "insightful, moving" (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author) Sunshine Nails. All Cleo Dang has ever wanted was to be a mother. The day she discovers she's pregnant is the happiest of her life, especially when she learns that her best friend, Paloma, is also expecting. It's a wonderful surprise and together, they enjoy their pregnancies. But when they both go to the hospital in labor, something goes very, very wrong. Paloma comes home with a baby. Cleo does not.Now a grieving Cleo must navigate life after losing her baby. She alienates herself from the world, especially her best friend who is living the life she so desperately wanted. Forced to quit her demanding job as an actuary, Cleo manages to find a job at a funeral home where she meets a revolving door of bereaved locals and discovers the power of confronting grief.

Critical Reviews

"Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead is a deeply compassionate and unexpectedly funny novel about love, loss, and the messy, resilient business of being human. Mai Nguyen always writes with warmth, insight, and emotional precision, and here she finds moments of wit and connection even in the most painful terrain. This is a story that sticks with you-not just for the way it turns sorrow into moments of light, but for its tenderness and humanity." - MARISSA STAPLEY, NYT bestselling author of Lucky

Publishing Information

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pub date: 2026-04-14
Length: 290 pages

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