A Widow's Story

In 2008, after her husband is diagnosed with pneumonia and dies unexpectedly of a hospital-acquired infection, National Book Award winner Oates (Them) struggles to move forward and redefine her life without him. Oates's grief is palpable as she describes battling depression, insomnia, and impolite questions, but her strongest passages comprise her recollections of the time she spent with her late husband. Whatever sort of dark humor Oates attempts to achieve with her advice on how to be a "good widow," however, is not entirely successfully captured in actress/narrator Ellen Parker's treatment of the text. Still, fans of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and/or Marilynne Robinson's Gilead are sure to savor. ["A worthy purchase that will be appreciated by readers of memoir generally and older readers especially," read the review of the Ecco hc, LJ 10/15/10.—Ed.]—Johannah Genett, Hennepin Cty. Lib., MN