Title: The Widow’s Guide to Sex & Dating
Author: Carole Radziwill
Publisher: Henry Holt And Co.
Source: Emily K. from Henry Holt in exchange for a review
Claire Byrne is a quirky and glamorous 34-year-old Manhattanite and the wife of a famous, slightly older man. Her husband, Charlie, is a renowned sexologist and writer. Equal parts Alfred Kinsey and Warren Beatty, Charlie is pompous yet charming, supportive yet unfaithful; he’s a firm believer that sex and love can’t coexist for long, and he does little to hide his affairs. Claire’s life with Charlie is an always interesting if not deeply devoted one, until Charlie is struck dead one day on the sidewalk by a falling sculpture … a Giacometti, no less!
Once a promising young writer, Claire had buried her ambitions to make room for Charlie’s. After his death, she must reinvent herself. Over the course of a year, she sees a shrink (or two), visits an oracle, hires a “botanomanist,” enjoys an erotic interlude (or ten), eats too little, drinks too much, dates a hockey player, dates a billionaire, dates an actor (not any actor either, but the handsome movie star every woman in the world fantasizes about dating). As she grieves for Charlie and searches for herself, she comes to realize that she has an opportunity to find something bigger than she had before—maybe even, possibly, love.
The first time I was approached about reading and reviewing this book, it was noted it was written by a Real Housewives of New York City cast member based on some of her own experiences as a young widow. I had other stuff going on so I passed. Then I saw it on a display table at Barnes and Noble and thought, “Oh, yeah. I remember that book.” And a few days later I was going through my emails and found a second request to read and review the book. So I went to Radziwill’s site, read the first chapter and said I’d like to read and review it.
Radziwill’s book is an amusing tale about a woman who arrives in Texas to conduct an interview as a married woman and flies back to New York a widow. Obviously, Claire’s new status is a lot to process. Ethan (Charlie’s assistant and Claire’s college friend) and Sasha (Claire’s best friend) offer Claire guidance and shoulders to cry on. Some of their advice is spot on such as: This is your time to be alone and figure out who you are. And some is not so spot on such as: You need to start dating again – I have a rolodex of men for you.
While Claire’s lifestyle is different from my own, I could identify with the knowledge that in your 30s you still have an entire lifetime ahead of you. This is one of those books that lets you escape the winter doldrums. The situations Claire finds herself in are often of her own making (or her friends well-meaning advice) but that’s just like life. Sometimes you have to stumble around a little bit before you find the right path.
About Carole Radziwill
Carole Radziwill grew up in upstate New York and earned a BA at Hunter College and an MBA at New York University. She spent more than a decade at ABC News, reporting from around the world, and earned three Emmys. Her first book, What Remains, a memoir, spent over twenty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. She has written for many magazines, including Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Town & Country and Porter. She currently is a star of and “the voice of reason” on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City. – See more at: http://thewidowsguidetosexanddating.com/
Sounds like a fun book!