A review by kimberlyf
The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels by Stefan Timmermans, Pamela Prickett

5.0

This book centers around the lives of four Los Angeles residents who have passed and became “unclaimed”—their bodies under possession of the county when nobody stepped forward to claim them. We follow their lives, hearing from friends, family, coroners, medical examiners, and more. This book begs questions like, How can someone surrounded by love in life be left alone in death? If there is no one to claim your body—to justify your existence—did your life have meaning? What does it take to become unclaimed? Can it happen to me? How can the legal system fail humans so drastically, even in death?

This work of narrative non-fiction is well researched, powerful, and incredibly thought-provoking. I will be thinking about it for quite some time.