Release Date: March 10, 2026
Size: 6x9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-57869-216-3
eBook ISBN: coming soon
Library of Congress Control Number: coming soon
Booksellers and Libraries: Order Info Here or at Ingram.

Synopsis

What if the afterlife consists of watching the consequences of what we did while we were alive?

Fay Kirkwood, a grumpy offshoot of an old Boston family, lived most of her life on a north country farm, raising pigs and fixing lawnmowers. Alive, Fay was homely, independent, and capable. Dead, she is sharp-tongued with an audience of one—the reader. As news of her death and the unorthodox disposal of her body by her outcast niece spreads through their small New England town, Fay is launched into a pinball succession of interconnected events. Much to her dismay, she cannot escape witnessing the consequences, which come thick and fast.

The Lawnmower Lady is a voice-driven comedy about death, New England culture, small-town entanglements, and a green burial decades before its time.

Praise

“Poignant without being saccharine and funny without ever losing heart, The Lawnmower Lady reckons with what it means to die—and to live.”

—BookLife Reviews

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“The Lawnmower Lady is the rare page-turning novel full of suspense, intrigue, and romantic desire that also succeeds as a literary work of art—masterfully crafted and resonant with insight. Forbes writes with the authority of a well-informed and gifted critical thinker with astute observations to offer. With her complex, nuanced characters she illuminates the human condition and its brilliant, messy struggles; captures the quirks and charms of rural Vermont town life; celebrates the transcendent power of music; and acknowledges the tensions inherent in faith traditions without ever pontificating. Her elegant prose, steeped in vivid sensory detail and effective analogy, is a joy in itself, but it is her wisdom that shines brightest. I fell in love with her characters who delight, frustrate, and surprise, and wanted to linger a long while in their quite beautiful, mucky world. What an authentic, life-affirming, and hope-restoring gift!”

—Marjorie Nelson Matthews, author of The Red Wheelbarrow

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“Chilling, hilarious, irreverent, and fun, Forbes’ bighearted novel defies classification. Love story, thriller, satire, and mystery combine to make this piece of rural New England life a universal and fun exploration of death and life everlasting.”

—Marguerite Graham, retired educator

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“The Lawnmower Lady had me from the opening scene. This hard-to-put-down story follows the spirit of Fay, known in her small town as the lawnmower lady, as she observes the reactions of her friends, acquaintances, and family to her death and the life she lived. We are taken along on this wonderful ride, with all of its twists and turns, as fellow flies on the wall. Highly recommended.”

—Peter Collier, retired clinical social worker and musician

MeET THE AUTHOR

Edith Forbes grew up on a family ranch in Wyoming. After college, she moved to Vermont, where she still lives. She is the author of four novels: Alma Rose, Nowle’s Passing, Exit to Reality, and Navigating the Darwin Straits.