Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Good Grief - Lolly Winston (Very Touching)
This was yet another good book recommended to me by my dear friend. I finished reading it last night. The start of the book is very depressing and I had tears streaming down my cheeks in many instances. "Good Grief" is a very well written novel and is filled with deep emotion. You can’t escape the feeling of loss and the pure emotional devastation that comes along with it.The novel is about Sophie Stanton who never imagined she would be a widow at thirty-six. Ethan, her husband of four years, died three months ago, and Sophie is having a hard time keeping it together. Frantic to keep some semblance of normalcy, Sophie continues to work. But grief isn't so easily shelved, and soon it begins to take over. Sophie finds herself eating Oreos by the dozen, watching Cops marathons on TV, and finally drives her car through the garage door. She goes days without changing clothes or showering. The final straw is when she goes to work in her robe and bunny slippers.
Winston breathes humanity and humor into the book. It isn’t the type of humor that elicits guffaws or shrieks of laughter. It is a deeper humor that instills a hope for the future. It is a humor that focuses on the absurdities of life and how those absurdities give us the courage to move on.
Despite being a heavy topic, Good Grief is an interesting book that was ultimately an enjoyable read. The characters are interesting and approachable and the issues they struggle with are real and easy to relate to. I look forward to reading future novels by Lolly Winston.
