“The Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating” A hilarious novel about a tragic reality
By: Elijah DeVivo
Creative Editor
“The Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating” by Carole Radziwill is a comical novel about the life of a New York City housewife who lost her husband in a bizarre accident.
Although funny at face value, the book has a deeper meaning. The text parallels Radziwill’s life and her rise from an upstate New Yorker with a dream to be a journalist to actually being an Emmy Award-winning journalist who later married into the Kennedy family.
The novel received three and a half stars on Amazon and was praised by the Huffington Post and Publishers Weekly. It was recognized by celebrities such as Oprah, Susan Sarandon and Candace Bushnell, the author of “Sex and the City.”
The book has a rather cliché storyline and the plot and ending was somewhat predictable, but it is a fun, witty and fast-paced novel that is full of laughs.
When digging deeper into the novel and the author, you will soon realize that the book is not only humorous but extremely deep. People say that in times of hardship, joking and staying positive can make the situation less hurtful. This novel does just that and is touching to those who have come to grips with loss.
The book follows Claire Byrne, an ordinary woman from New York City who lives with her not-so-ordinary husband. Charlie, her husband, is a sexologist and is quite the womanizer. He has multiple flings outside of their marriage.
The Byrnes’ lives come crashing down when a terrible accident occurs that causes Charlie his life. While walking the streets of New York City, Charlie is killed by a falling beam that was being lifted with a crane.
This bizarre and rather unlucky event leaves Claire widowed. However, even though her marriage was far from perfect, Claire finds it difficult to get back into the dating scene.
This dating difficulty is written about with such lightheartedness that one would have no idea that Radziwill experienced the same difficulty when her husband died of cancer.
The novel offers a glimpse at who Radziwill is as a person. Radziwill came from humble beginnings, a quiet girl who had a dream. Radziwill later married Anthony Radziwill, the nephew of John F. Kennedy.
Within a year, Radziwill lost her best friends due to the infamous plane crash carrying Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. According to an interview with CNN, they were headed to Radziwill’s home so they could drop Bessette-Kennedy’s sister off before the couple went to a wedding. Months later, Radziwill’s husband lost his battle with cancer.
“The Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating” is highly recommended and is an amazing read. In fact, it is currently in the making of becoming a television series.
Radziwill did a wonderful job in creating something comical and fun but at the same time a creation that hits home to widows, the struggles of finding love all over again and dealing with loss.