The Undertaker's Assistant is a historical fiction novel by Amanda Skenandore. She wrote a story about Effie Jones. Effie was a slave in Louisiana. At age 7 she escaped her captors and made her way to a Union Army camp. A doctor in the camp took her in thinking she was a boy. Wanting to please this doctor, she learned all she could about anatomy. After the war he returned to his home in Indiana. Effie came to live with him and his wife. His occupation in Indiana was undertaker so Effie learned that trade as well. When she turned 18 she left Indiana and returned to Louisiana. She got a job as an undertaker's assistant. Her skill at embalming were helpful. The man she worked for was an alcoholic and he was not managing very well. She cleaned his shop, straightened up his accounts, and with her help his business began to thrive. He stopped drinking as much too. Effie wanted to find someone who knew her when she was young. The story is about how Effie faces loss and heartbreak but eventually finds her place in life. I thought the story was well written and definitely worth my time.
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