I felt for Sophie, I was sad for her, but I just couldn't get completely into it. I was reading constantly waiting for something to happen. I got through the book very quickly - I usually do though, but I wasn't loving it. So I went with Good Grief and with much anticipation I picked it up. Well Good Grief had 4.5 stars and the other only 2.5 and the reviews made it sound so good. I saw this book at Barnes and Noble for only $4.98 so I read the back thought it sounded good, saw it had a readers club guide and decided to look up reviews as I was between this book and Reliable Wife. It was my month to pick a book for book club. So many wonderful reviews for this book, but for me it was just ok. I feel like I must have missed something. At all stops on her journey from widow to survivor, Sophie is a lively, crabby, delightfully imperfect character. Winston allows Sophie life after widowhood: The novel almost indiscernibly turns into a gentle romantic comedy and a quirky portrait of life in an artsy small town. But it's her difficult relationship with psycho teen punker Crystal, to whom she becomes a Big Sister, that mysteriously brings her at least a few steps out of her grief. Sophie decides to ease her grief, or at least her loneliness, by moving in with her best friend Ruth in Ashland, Oregon.

After the death of her computer programmer husband, she reexamines her life as a public relations agent in money-obsessed Silicon Valley. The Christmas season especially terrifies her: 'I must write a memo to the Minister of Happier Days requesting that the holidays be cancelled this year.' But widowhood also forces her to do something very sane. That's on one of the rare occasions when she bothers to get out of bed. I just got used to the idea of being married.' Sophie's young widowhood forces her to do all kinds of crazy things-drive her car through her garage door, for instance. 'How can I be a widow?' Sophie asks at the opening of Lolly Winston's sweet debut novel, Good Grief. Sophie Stanton's reaction is one of pure bafflement.

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