The book I thought I wanted to read would have been called "Surviving Divorce." Throughout the long years of a failing marriage I often wished my ex-husband had died, and I expect he thought the same about me.
It was a surprise for me to discover how many of Esther's experiences had been like mine. Like her, I found myself living with loss, having to manage on my own, having to rebuild a life for myself and my adult children. I was going to write that I did not go through a period of mourning but that was not true. Recently I heard that there are creative ceremonies and ritual for divorce. Esther, as a widow and a clinical psychologist would understand how these could help.
For me, reading this book was like being taken on a boat trip along a stream of thoughts, memories, reflections and amazingly helpful and appropriate literary and biblical quotations.

I happened upon Esther Goshen-Gottstein's book on widows after two close friends' husbands died. I was searching for a helpful book to suggest. I read SURVIVING WIDOWHOOD before suggesting it and found it most useful. Goshen-Gottstein has a solid social psychology background which allows her to step away from her own experience of widowhood and relate to the larger issue of loss. She always returns to her personal story and in a most human way describes how her life has changed since her husband's death. Although I have never been widowed, I think reading the book has made me more sensitive to what my friends are going through and more able to be helpful to them.

Having sadly joined the ranks of widowhood, I found this book to be much more than a confirming description of my own situation. The book helped me to evaluate my own life at this juncture and to move on in a positive and productive direction. At the same time, Goshen-Gottstein points out pitfalls and validates emotions which only another widow can appreciate. It is an instructive on how to assess one's own reality and how to move on to a rich, fulfilling and independent life while never forgetting the circumstances creating that new reality. "Surviving Widowhood" is a positive "up beat" book which encourages an energetic approach to a new life. The book is a "must read" for a widow who needs to find her way in life devoid of self pity and full of promise for the future.