ARE YOU LISTENING? SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS: A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

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ARE YOU LISTENING? DAY"
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SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS

The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives 

BY BECKY AIKMAN

ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK:

Six marriages, six heartbreaks, one shared beginning. 

In her forties – a widow, too young, too modern to accept the role – Becky Aikman struggled to make sense of her place in an altered world.  In this transcendent and infectiously wise memoir, she explores surprising new discoveries about how people experience grief and transcend loss and, following her own remarriage, forms a group with five other young widows to test these unconventional ideas.  Together, these friends summon the humor, resilience, and striving spirit essential for anyone overcoming adversity.
 

Meet the Saturday Night Widows: ringleader Becky, an unsentimental journalist who lost her husband to cancer; Tara, a polished mother of two, whose husband died in the throes of alcoholism after she filed for divorce; Denise, a widow of just five months, now struggling to get by; Marcia, a hard-driving corporate lawyer; Dawn, an alluring self-made entrepreneur whose husband was killed in a sporting accident, leaving two small children behind; and Lesley, a housewife who returned home one day to find that her husband had committed suicide.
 

The women meet once a month, and over the course of a year, they strike out on ever more far-flung adventures, learning to live past the worst thing they thought could happen.  They share emotional peaks and valleys – dating, parenting, moving, finding meaningful work, and reinventing themselves – while turning traditional thinking about loss and recovery upside down.  Through it all runs the story of Aikman's own journey through grief and her love affair with a man who tempts her to marry again.  In a transporting story of what friends can achieve when they hold each other up, Saturday Night Widows is a rare book that will make you laugh, think, and remind yourself that despite the utter unpredictability and occasional tragedy of life, it is also precious, fragile, and often more joyous than we recognize. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A graduate of the School of Journalism at Columbia University, Becky Aikman was a writer and editor for Business Week and a reporter for Newsday.  She lives in New York City. 

PRAISE FOR SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS:

 “Their stories of loss are touching, and the wisdom they gain is a testament to the durability of the human spirit.” – People

 “Often desperate, sometimes feisty, partly hilarious, and warm as a fleecy blanket, Saturday Night Widows is a surprisingly feel-good, girl-bonding, which-role-will-Meryl-Streep-play-in-the-movie kind of a book. And I loved it….It’s sad, it’s happy, and, in fact, once you start Saturday Night Widows, you won’t be able to part with it.” – Terri Schlichenmeyer, Independent News

 “A spirited, insightful memoir about a group of young widows who gather together once a month to cheer each other on and have fun.” – Shelf Awareness

“Engaging and entertaining but not maudlin, Aikman shows a side of life that many readers probably don't think about.  A compassionate narrative about how one group of friends helped each other thrive after the deaths of their spouses.”– Kirkus Reviews

“It’s the spirit of a book that makes you love it.  And the spirit here, Becky Aikman’s spirit, is tough, honest, funny, smart, and generous to the world – all the equipment one needs when dealing with grief.  One would not wish to qualify for the widows’ club, but reading about it is heartening.”
– Roger Rosenblatt, author of Kayak Morning and Making Toast

 “For anyone who has ever loved, lost, and relied on the companionship of women, Saturday Night Widows is a gem of a read that will affirm the power of friendship, new beginnings, and the ability of the human spirit to survive and thrive.  I cheered on each of these women as they faced their own darkest moments and looked to the power of sisterhood and shared experience to remake their futures.” – Lee Woodruff, author of Those We Love Most and In an Instant

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
Becky Aikman’s memoir, SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS, is quite different from what one might expect. This is not a maudlin story about women in black sitting around consoling each other. Instead, it is one where a small group of widows meet once a month on a Saturday to celebrate life and share in friendship. When Aikman’s husband died of cancer following a long battle, Becky was in her 40s and found herself not quite fitting into the typical widow mold. She did seek some help and attended a support group but realized quickly this was not a path for her to take. Most of the group were older and seemed almost to enjoy each other’s shared pain. She read books by noted authorities but none of those seemed to fit. Being proactive, Becky took in all that the latest research showed and came up with a plan. She formed THE SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS group.

Becky found other widows who would be supportive of each other while learning to live again themselves. The women were varied in ages, from 39 to 57, from different backgrounds and careers, and made up of some mothers, professionals, and/or housewives. Together they spent these Saturdays learning from each other and exploring new things. There was no leader as they each had contributions to make. Whether it was a gourmet cooking class or an exciting trip as a group, these women slowly became whole again while having fun doing it.

SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS isn’t just the story of Becky’s dealing with the loss of her husband as well as learning to love again, but rather it is a courageously honest, dynamic memoir that details the discovery, confessions, and the adventures of these charming women. With the camaraderie in the group, each member is able to share their personal story through tears and laughter. They find themselves starting to see some hope as well as a whole lot of fun along the way. Thanks to the group, each member learns they can live a fulfilling life again, looking forward to many rewarding years ahead. Readers will share in all their emotions while enjoying a rather unique and well written narrative. 

 GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO RICHARD AND THE GOOD PEOPLE

AT RANDOM HOUSE AUDIO BOOKS, I HAVE ONE

COPY OF THIS WONDERFUL AUDIO BOOK,

SATURDAY NIGHT WIDOWS,

TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY FOLLOWER

  

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GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
 6 PM, EST, MARCH 11

GOOD LUCK!