Good Grief is an engaging, female-centered novel that celebrates the connection between two women who both love the same deceased man. That is… a young widow and her mother-in-law.
The year is 1963 and the setting is the greater DC area. Barbara Feldman has 2 children, 6 and 4. Her mother moved in when her husband died very young of a massive heart attack. They realize that the time has come for Barbara and the kids to survive on their own, so her mother-in-law moves out.
They have exactly one day as a family of 3, when her Mother-in-law shows up on her porch with five suitcases. There is no room for argument, Ruth Feldman knows that Barbara’s mother has just left and she is taking her rightful place.
Hilarity ensues!
Okay- time for my trigger warning. What happens next is Ruth meddling and really going overboard on being intrusive. If you struggle with setting boundaries and/or are triggered by this, this is a major theme of the book and – I will admit – it raised my blood pressure a bit. I grew to really love Ruth in the end, but there were several times that I was full of anxiety at what she was doing. For example, Barbara has people coming to paint the kitchen a pale yellow and Ruth changes it to being pink. That kind of thing, over and over.
But all the while, you know that Ruth means well, and she really does love Barbara and her grandchildren. Barbara decides to play matchmaker to just get Ruth out of her house.
Historical fiction in the mid twentieth century can be a difficult plot for 2025 readers; authors make the mistake of making the characters unrealistic and having the culture/viewpoints of the typical 21st century reader. Authors also can make the time period overly nostalgic, but that isn’t the case here. The workplace is a hospital and very different than today’s society. You can change your own perceptions and see things through the eyes of characters who are
Immersed in another time.
It also made me grateful for the women of Barbara and Ruth’s time that made workplaces better for women and mothers like myself.
4.5 stars rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley and Lake House publishing for the ARC. Book to be published August 26, 2025.
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