The Ones They Left Behind:11 Widow/er Novels

Featuring Laura Brodie, Stephen Lovely & Lisa Moore

By Bette-Lee Fox -- Library Journal, 02/04/2010

Deciphering the way ahead is a murky affair when a spouse dies. Our protagonists here may wish for oblivion, to give in to grief and curl up in a ball, but eventually they move on, whether through the needs of others, or the muscle memory of waking up each day and putting one foot in front of the other, or just unspeakable anger.

Ultimately, their stories will make you weep and rejoice, too, at the grit and the doggedness that keep them going. To the generally accepted stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance—add read wonderful novels about loss and consider cross-referencing this list with your psychology section.

Brodie, Laura. The Widow’s Season. Berkley: Penguin Group (USA). 2009. 303p. ISBN 978-0-425-22765-7. pap. $14.
After three months, the drowned body of Dr. David McConnell has never been recovered. Then, on Halloween, he shows up, confessing to his wife, Sarah, that he’s been hiding out at their lakeside cabin, painting and being free. Their marriage, without children, hasn’t been all that fabulous of late. Maybe they both need to refresh. Brodie’s first novel opens all the cracks in this marriage and exposes more than you might want to know. Beautiful writing, with a startling climax.

Cohen, Tish. Inside Out Girl. HarperPerennial: HarperCollins. 2008. 252p. ISBN 978-0-06-145295-6. pap. $13.95.
Job has nothing on Len Bean, a widower (after his wife’s bicycle accident), with ten-year-old daughter Olivia, who suffers from NLD (nonverbal learning disabilities). He starts to date Rachel Berman, divorced, with two kids. Then Len is diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. You’ll want to tear your hair out, but for this elegantly written novel, it's worth buying a hat.

Fay, Juliette. Shelter Me. Avon A. 2009. 448p. ISBN 978-0-06-167339-9. pap. $13.95.
Janie LaMarche is a 38-year-old widow, her husband, Robby, having been killed in a bicycle accident. Left to raise their two children, she is caustic in her grief—so much so that you wonder how anyone can stand her. She has Aunt Jude and confectioner cousin Cormac to console her, and she’s getting a new porch, as per Robby’s instructions before he died. Janie is no sympathy-inducing softie—not by a long shot—but readers will still root for her and even crave a slice of pology cake.

Gunning, Sally. The Widow’s War. Harper Paperbacks: HarperCollins. 2007. 336p. ISBN 978-0060791582. pap. $13.99.
Cape Cod, 1761. Lyddie (Lyddia) Berry’s husband drowned, leaving her at the mercy and financial feet of her daughter and her son-in-law, Nathan. She manages to keep one-third of her home, against Nathan’s desires to sell the house, but life for a woman—especially a woman without a husband—in those days was precarious at best and always a challenge. Historical fiction doesn’t get much better. (See LJ's original review.)

Hicks, Robert. The Widow of the South. Grand Central. 2009. 560p. ISBN 978-0-446-55888-4. pap. $7.99.
In 1864, Carrie McGavock takes on the mantle of widow even before receiving official word that her husband is dead. But her Tennessee home has been commandeered for a Confederate hospital, and suddenly seeing to the proper burial of those who died at the Battle of Franklin becomes her life’s imperative. A fabulous Civil War first novel. (See LJ's original review.)

Kennedy, Holly. The Silver Compass. NAL: Penguin Group (USA). 2008. 368p. ISBN 978-0-451-22312-8. pap. $14.
Young widow Ellis Williams comes home to Barrow, MT, with her 14-year-old daughter after her husband dies. Ellis had tried to jump from a bridge at 17, when she found out she was pregnant. Louie Johnson saved her then, and now she is a nurse in the home where Louie is a resident. Can she figure out her future when so much of her past is in tatters? Kennedy points the way.

Lovely, Stephen. Irreplaceable. Voice: Hyperion. Feb. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-1-4013-4121-3. pap. $14.99.
In this first novel, Alex’s wife, Isabel, is hit by a truck while she is riding her bike. She had signed a donor card, and her heart goes to Janet Corcoran in Chicago. Isabel’s mother begins an email correspondence with Janet’s mother, but Alex wants nothing to do with Janet, who now has that most vital part of his beloved wife. What makes us who we are? Does the best of us remain in those donated organs? Wonderful writing—and lots to think about. (See LJ's original review.)

Moore, Lisa. February. Black Cat: Grove. Feb. 2010. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-8021-7070-5. pap. $14.95.
Helen’s husband, Cal, died in 1982 when his oil rig sank (an actual event in Canadian history); in 2008, her every move is still tainted by that loss, even her relationship with her son, John. But John has his own troubles, which he might come lay on Helen’s doorstep. Moving back and forth in time, Moore reveals this marriage and all its strengths and faults. (See LJ's original review.)

Tropper, Jonathan. How To Talk to a Widower. Bantam. 2008. 352p. ISBN 978-0-553-59146-0. pap. $5.99.
Doug Parker is 29 years old when his wife, Hailey, dies in a plane crash. He’s a mess, but that’s what makes him so attractive to all the neighborhood ladies. His main concern, though, is his teenaged stepson. Tropper gets to the heart of his quirky young protagonist. And the whole rabbit thing will have you rolling on the lawn. (See LJ's original review.)

Winston, Lolly. Good Grief. Grand Central. 2005. 368p. ISBN 978-0-446-69484-1. pap. $12.95.
Thirty-six-year-old Sophie Stanton loses her husband, Ethan, to cancer just three years into their marriage. She can’t quite function and goes to work in her bathrobe. It seems it’s time for a change of scene, so Sophie moves to Oregon to be with her friend Ruth. Will that help her get a grip? Per our original review, “Sophie is self-deprecating, smart-alecky, insecure, and so lost in grief…that we become instantly involved." A truly remarkable first novel.

Wolf, Deborah J. With You and Without You. Kensington. 2006. 384p. ISBN 978-0-7582-1383-9. pap. $14.
Allyson Houlihan and her daughters, Lydia and Becca, live outside Boston. Her husband, Patrick, died a year ago, and they are all at loose ends. Then Lydia ends up pregnant. What to do? Single father and Patrick’s best friend Michael is there for them, especially Allyson. Unfortunately, the answers don’t always fit the questions, as our protagonists discover.