Black Widow

A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title

By: Leslie Gray Streeter

Narrated by: Leslie Gray Streeter

Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

With her signature warmth, hilarity, and tendency to overshare, Leslie Gray Streeter gives us real talk about love, loss, grief, and healing in your own way that "will make you laugh and cry, sometimes on the same page" (James Patterson).

Leslie Gray Streeter is not cut out for widowhood. She's not ready for hushed rooms and pitying looks. She is not ready to stand graveside, dabbing her eyes in a classy black hat. If she had her way she'd wear her favorite curve-hugging leopard print dress to Scott's funeral; he loved her in that dress! But, here she is, having lost her soulmate to a sudden heart attack, totally unsure of how to navigate her new widow lifestyle. ("New widow lifestyle." Sounds like something you'd find products for on daytime TV, like comfy track suits and compression socks. Wait, is a widow even allowed to make jokes?) 

Looking at widowhood through the prism of race, mixed marriage, and aging, Black Widow redefines the stages of grief, from coffin shopping to day-drinking, to being a grown-ass woman crying for your mommy, to breaking up and making up with God, to facing the fact that life goes on even after the death of the person you were supposed to live it with. While she stumbles toward an uncertain future as a single mother raising a baby with her own widowed mother (plot twist!), Leslie looks back on her love story with Scott, recounting their journey through racism, religious differences, and persistent confusion about what kugel is. Will she find the strength to finish the most important thing that she and Scott started? 

Tender, true, and endearingly hilarious, Black Widow is a story about the power of love, and how the only guide book for recovery is the one you write yourself.

©2020 Leslie Gray Streeter (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Black Widow is a beautiful love story that also happens to be a grief story. Leslie Gray Streeter tells the whole tale - falling in love, marriage, adopting, parenthood, death, moving on - with her captivating wit. Only she could make Black Widow so deeply moving, painfully funny, altogether unforgettable." (Rob Sheffield, author of Dreaming the Beatles and Love Is a Mix Tape)

"Grief is a heavy darkness with spots of unexpected, unpredictable light. Leslie's book is a light for those still stuck in the dark - a sad, funny, personal story filled with universal truths about life and love and loss." (Nora McInerny, author of The Hot Young Widows Club and No Happy Endings)

"When Streeter's husband died, leaving her to raise their baby with her mother, also a widow, the journalist and playwright was plunged into a new, surprisingly funny life of coffin shopping and staring down racism." (Glamour)

My Husband Died and I Needed This Book

Thank you Leslie for writing this book. I felt less alone while reading it.

My 41year old husband died suddenly a month ago from an aneurysm and I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.

This book reminded me that I don't have to know.

Delightfully Insightful with Dashes of Humor

I totally enjoyed the author drawing me into her processing of grief. The Leslie’s knowledge of story telling is front and center. It’s like she’s pulling her audience into a girlfriend like moments of, girl let me tell you what happened. THANK YOU!

Uplifting and funny

A must read for anyone who has experienced loss. And even those who have not.

Wonderful story-- don't pass this up

I laugh-cried through most of this book. It is beautifully written and skillfully read. Ms. Streeter offers balance along a number of lines- vulnerability without self-indulgent martyrdom, humor without making everything a punchline, raw emotion and thoughtful insight- all wrapped up in tight, well written prose. Looking forward to enjoying more from this author.

Beautiful love story

The book was so good that I listened to it in one sitting. I loved the tv pop culture references , and the touching stories about Leslie’s husband, Steve. I laughed a lot and boo hoo cried at least 3 times.

Fantastic!!

Leslie’s candor and sense of humor make the unbearable truths of her way-too-soon widowhood both piercing and hilarious. She doesn’t sugar-coat. She lets you in, and the lets you off the hook by sharing what got her through.

This book should be performed as a film or a play... it’s that good!!

All around lovely!

May we all have the grace, kindness, and perseverance of this author. on top of an absolutely captivating story, her narration draws you in and pretty shortly you'll be rooting for her and her family to win.

Great book

I loved this book loss my husband this year. Much needed information, I needed this.

Enjoyed!

I had this book recommended to me via a widow’s group to which I belong, but you don’t need to be a widow to appreciate and enjoy. Leslie did a nice job of explaining her feelings and experiences through a tough loss without making the reader uncomfortable. I love her sense of humor and self reflection. I am happy to recommend to non-widow friends.

An amazing romp thru widowhood

I loved it. While I don't look forward to widowhood, this book lets me know i can get to the other side.

funny and beautiful

great book, great story teller funny and really heartfelt. i definitely would reccomend it to others