Lynn Isenberg The Funeral Planner

The Funeral Planner

Lynn Isenberg

Red Dress, Sep 2005, $12.95, 384 pp.

ISBN: 037389533X

Even as a child Maddy Banks equated self worth to be equal to net worth. So she is concerned that she has yet to make her entrepreneurial mark. Maddy has no time for self pity as she travels from Los Angeles to Ann Arbor to attend the funeral of her friend Tara Pintock.

This second sudden death, last year her cousin was hit by lightning, with a canned eulogy by a clergy who never knew the deceased has Maddy thinking that ceremonies should be customized to honor the dearly departed and provide solace to the guests. Her Uncle Sam lends her $15K to develop the strategic business plan for Lights Out and soon sells the concept to venture capitalist Victor Winston. Her business booms until the Fed Uncle Sam pulls the plug on her. She misses Victor, who encouraged her every step of the way as he was with her the extra miles beyond that of an investor, more than Lights Out. Maddy reconsiders her mantra as her self worth is much higher than her net worth if she can persuade Victor that he invested in love.

THE FUNERAL PLANNER is a primer for starting a business with satirical chapter titles that Maddy's entrepreneurial efforts never seem to quite achieve. Maddy is terrific as even as a preadolescent preferred the financial reports over dolls. Her how to succeed at business with trying makes for a fine chick lit tale; even when she breaks the first commandment of the Bush Administration "Thou shall not worship any other god but Adam Smith" when she entered the dark side of placing her personal life over the bottom line.

Harriet Klausner