The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip

I have just finished reading The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip, and I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face. I think I can say without spoiling anything that Mrs. Kip dies in the book. There's sadness over that. But in the final extraordinary death of Mrs. Kip, there is joy. She is a woman who's dedicated her life to loving as Jesus loves, to serving others, and she goes home to her Savior a mighty conqueror.

Aidyn Kelley, a young and talented reporter, wanted a real story, under her byline. She chafed at doing what she saw as grunt work for another, more experienced reporter. She wanted something with substance. She tried to take matters into her own hands to get that story, but her efforts failed in a big way. When she's assigned to write an obituary for Clara Kip, someone who says herself that she lived an “exceedingly unimpressive” life, she thinks her editor is punishing her for trying to get above her station.

Little does Aidyn know the story that Mrs. Kip has to tell, and little does she realize that her dreaded, hard-nosed editor is one of those warriors that the Lord hides in the most surprising places.

Mrs. Kip made a deal with Aidyn. For every extraordinary way to die that Aidyn dreamed up for her, Mrs. Kip would answer three questions about her life. This led to some pretty humorous moments as Aidyn came up with ways both mild and wild in which Mrs. Kip could meet her Maker. And true to her word, Mrs. Kip answered Aidyn's questions. And the events of her life unfolded in memories and flashbacks.

At first, I wondered why Mrs. Kip didn't just TELL Aidyn her story. Why did she want Aidyn to work for it? Why did she want Aidyn to want to know her story, to seek it out? And the more I read, the more I saw: God was working through Mrs. Kip to break Aidyn's pride, to help her see what was truly important in life. Clara Kip was loving Aidyn the best she could by not just handing Aidyn her life story and saying, “Here you go!” By realizing that this wasn't “just” an obituary, by seeing that Mrs. Kip's was a story that needed to be told, by learning how Mrs. Kip impacted others by dying to self and going where the Lord led her, Aidyn found her own strength in the Lord. And she saw what a privilege it had been for Mrs. Kip, and what a delight it could be for her, to live a life of mindful, joyful service to others, with no heed given to whatever status the world did or didn't convey.

“Authentic love is the greatest joy there is, Miss Kelley, but it requires a thousand little deaths to self.”

How often have I not loved people as best as I could? How much more could the light of Jesus have shone through me over the years had I been devoted to mindful, joyful service? This book made me laugh, made me cry, and made me think. And isn't that what a good story is supposed to do?

As an added bonus, this story points us to the greatest Story ever told: God's love for us and the gift of eternal life available to all of us – “whoever will” – through His Son Jesus. Mrs. Kip is a marvelous example of someone who loves well and does her human best to love like Jesus. She “lived as if death were merely a phase, not an end. She poured out as if she would never go empty.”

The extraordinary deaths of Mrs. Kip were the deaths she died to self serving others. As she said, “The Lord never failed to answer a prayer for work to do.” She died in amazing ways every time she said yes to His work. That made hers a story worth telling and a life well lived.

I'd give this book ten stars if I could. It is easily one of my favorite books of 2022, maybe ever. If any of what I've written here speaks to you, please, go get a copy of this book and get to reading.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy from Revell Reads. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.