Manless in Montclair: How a Happily Married Woman Became a Widow Looking for Love in the Wilds of Suburbia

by Amy Holman Edelman

Being short with big boobs means living life off-balance. Isabel knows this all too well; at five-feet-nothing with a tendency to tip over in heels, she’s struggled for twenty-five years to make clothes, careers, and boyfriends fit.

Enter Michael. Divorced father, recovering alcoholic, and fifteen years her senior—he was the last guy she thought would make the cut. But when he proposed over a pastrami sandwich in a New York City deli on the anniversary of their first date, Isabel knew, improbably, that he was the one.

Fifteen mostly happy years and two kids later, Isabel walks into her living room to discover her husband dead on the floor, leaving her a widow at forty-one. At Michael’s funeral, a guest solemnly informs her that the official mourning period for a Jewish widow is thirty days. At that moment, Isabel can’t imagine a time when she will stop grieving. Not helping the process is as a single mom living in the very married suburbs, for the first time in fifteen years Isabel once again just doesn’t fit in.

It takes her younger daughter’s request for a new daddy to set Isabel on a journey through online dating, shifty matchmakers, and painfully orchestrated singles dinners. But after endless dates and a story on page three of the Daily News, Isabel begins to realize that another man may not be the answer and, surprisingly, that’s when things begin to change for the better. . . .

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Adult, Womens Fiction, Ebooks

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 13, 2007

About the author

Amy Holman Edelman moved to New York after college to become a clothing designer. After failing miserably, she fell into a career as a publicist and started her own company six months before her first child was born. She is the author of The Little Black Dress, which explores how the little black dress influenced contemporary fashion, art, literature, and film. In 2001 her husband of 12 years died unexpectedly. The following holiday, her youngest daughter asked for a daddy. The following year she began looking for another man and discovered dating in the 21st century as a 43-year-old widow with two kids. Her happy ending was reported in the New York Times “Vows” section on October 7, 2007.

Reviews

[Jenifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What married woman hasn't contemplated the 'what if' question of losing your spouse in an unexpected death? So far my plan includes the people I would call first to drown with me in my tears and then I vacillate between whether I'd take a very strong tranquilizer or take my first dip into a very strong drink. After that? I don't want to think about after that . . .

In this story, Isabell faces just such a scenario as her husband Michael suddenly dies. Written with a sweetness, wittiness and sarcasm (peppered with a little white-trash crass), I enjoyed sharing her journey.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moments of humor, distracting narrative style, somewhat lacking in coherence or continuity. Cutesy, light read in the chick lit genre. My laugh out loud moment was one I don't dare quote, but it concerned a reason for divorce involving pink poodle costumes. Priceless.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is better than I expected, a cute thoughtful book, not too deep, but still not your usual romance.

[Ricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual book genre, but I had to read it because it takes place in my hometown. Turns out, it was kinda cute. Fluffy, but likeable.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very light read; predictable but enjoyable.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. Lots of self-reflection in the suburbs with a great support group.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not a fan of the back and forth storytelling at first, but after the past caught up with the present, I enjoyed this book much more. I had a hard time with the lack of focus on the children too. It is a good story of love, loss, and love again.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manless in Montclair Edelman, Amy Holman 3 F Rom. jewish mother with 2 girls suddenly widowed at young age, missing he beloved husband & lonely wanting company tried dating with no luck, finds company as stops looking 2017 9/12/2017 9/6/2017

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

VERY short beach read. Nice message, gets there in a nice engaging way. I wouldn't spend full price on this book but if someone gave me a copy, as they did, I would read it.

DO NOT expect much about Montclair, there are almost no solid references.

[Haverford Township · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice light humor. Enjoyable. -Denise

[Sherri Denora · Rating 4 out of 5]

She didn’t write about who she ended up with!

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

""

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read a Chick lit I expect only enough realism to keep the plot from flying away and fewer innuendos then it takes to make me gag. It’s a fluffy read that I expect to enjoy for the moment alone so that I can then move on. Manless in Montclair fulfilled all of these requirements except for the gag one, but I’m pretty sure that was because my mom had Big Bang Theory playing in the background during one of the more heavy laden parts.

On average I give a Chick Lit about four stars, which is what seriously considered giving Manless in Montclair but I don’t think its one of the better books I have read.

The beginning was great, going back and forth between the death of Isabel’s husband and flash backs on how she met him (her name is Isabel right?). I enjoyed the first 20 percent of the book or so quite a bit.

Then the character moved on and started the dating game. Where was the tantalizing email ‘Help find Isabel a husband’ that I had been promised on the back cover of my copy? I was getting more and more frustrated with the character, the innuendos and the lack of email. This part of the book about 60 percent of it I enjoyed less and less as I read on.

Finally at 20 percent the promised blurb arrived and the book got better again. The last three chapters were great and I loved how the author wrote the back and forth emails between Isabel and her friend. All in all I really enjoyed the ending.

Its still not one of the better Chick lit books that I have read.

This book hasn’t gotten much attention or love here and I can see why. As hard as it might try, it doesn’t really deserve that much. At the same time though its not a horrible book either, it’s just Chick Lit.

I wouldn’t have even considered picking it up if the copy I found had the cover that featured the women eating a banana. Instead I found the one with the cute little houses on the front. I’ve just read way too many strange things about bananas I guess (lets blame Watt Pad) and I don’t really enjoy eating them either.

[Pragya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be frank here, as always. The first thing that came to my mind was 'what's up with the cover?' but then I moved on to the reading part (thankfully) and after that the cover didn't matter. Yes, really.

I didn't pay heed to the title or the blurb (which I always make a point not to read). So going in there blindly, I read some and then some more and formed an opinion 'oh, so this is how the book will proceed', only to read a few more pages and see it turning out in the opposite direction. This war between my mind and book continued throughout with both of them moving in different directions. So well, the book is unpredictable, you'll never know what will happen next and that is something I like, very much indeed.

Something else that I loved about the book was the easy banter, the sense of humor that kept me on my wits throughout. I don't remember the last time a book made me chuckle so much. So from thinking this would be a sad story to mystery, it turned out more funny in the end. But don't let that fool you. It has many important life messages tucked right in there.

There wasn't a moment of boredom, it made for a light, quick read and I enjoyed this funny book that had no non-humans (read vampires, werewolves - the books doing the rounds) in there and I loved it.

And I strongly recommend you pick it up especially since it's up for free on Amazon right now. Go grab it!

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Kindle version was cheap on Amazon, and it had decent reviews, so I ordered it. If I could, I'd give it 2 1/2 stars.

I'm really glad I had this on my Kindle because: 1) I hate the title of the book and 2) would you look at that cover? Terrible! I'd be so embarrassed to be carrying that around in public.

Anyway, the story is about Isabel who is in her early forties when her husband Michael suddenly passes away. After Michael dies, Isabel tries to get back on her feet, and after a request from her daughter for a new daddy, she takes to the dating world.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book which includes flashbacks about how Isabel and Michael met and fell in love. I really liked both characters and their relationship.

It's the second half of the book, where Isabels starts dealing with online dating, speed dating, arranged dinner parties, blind dates, etc. that lost me. Isabel became annoying and she was trying too hard. It seemed like she barely grieved for her husband and then just had to have a man to complete her life. I didn't like that message, even though Isabel was searching for a man under the guise of providing for her kids.

Still, I do like the author's writing style and wit, and would probably give her another chance. I wouldn't recommend this one, though.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabel's friend thinks she should ask the cute guy in the deli out for coffee. A man who works in a deli was not exactly what she was aspiring to but she invited him anyway. On their coffee date she discovers that he is 15 years older than her, is divorced with two kids, and is a recovering alcoholic. She is certainly all that she doesn't need and yet they fall for each other. They lead a relatively happy life and have two children but then Michael suddenly dies leaving Isabel to find her way alone. She decides a man is what she needs and begins her search which has its humorous moments to say the least. She learns some important things along the way and sometimes surprising events are right around the corner.

I was attracted to this book because I grew up in Montclair and was looking forward to reading about familiar things. The cover put me off and I probably wouldn't have read the book if Montclair had not been in the title. It was a good read and I would certainly read The Little Black Dress which is Edelman's other book.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a pretty run-of-the-mill story of a young woman who tries to figure out her life, finds love, has two children, becomes a widow at age 42, needs time to recover from her loss, tries various dating techniques, and of course finds love again.

The author clearly strives for sex-in-the-city type hipness, but can't quite pull it off. The writing is bland, and even the most emotionally charged moments fall flat. Much of the story is stereotypical : young woman trying to make it in the city, the beautiful and supportive best friend, the move to the suburbs, the dating scene, the transitional guy. There is nothing wrong with the book, but there are no memorable moments, either.

[Stephanie Haefner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. I liked the beginning where it flipped back and forth between present day and flash backs to how she and her husband met, fell in love, had kids, ect..... What I didn't like was how she reacted to her husbands death......It seemed she hardly grieved, aside from one scene where she breaks down. I guess everyone grieves in their own way, but he had barely been dead and she was already thinking about how she needed a new husband.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pure fluff. It's true what other reviewers have said - the synopsis is different to the actual story. It felt very rushed - one second she was married, the next she's not, then she's dating and then her daughter is sick... It's like everything was squished in, would have been better if less this happened and the author focused on a few of the topics.

[Gail Kushner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. There were several good laughs. However, there were a few inconsistencies in the story which threw off my reading. I had to re-read parts to make sure that it was the story, not me. I found that distracting. I also think that the ending, which could have wrapped things up well, was rushed.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished this ... really nice little book, good narrative, interesting, and it takes place in montclair, (kind of) so i couldn't resist, but all in all a book that ends using the word naches, can't be too bad, right?

[Melly]

I got this book based on the "Montclair," our neighboring town in New Jersey. I assumed it was a true story (a middle-aged woman, suddenly widowed, tries to find a new man) and maybe it is, but for whatever reason she decided to fictioalize it. Lame.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written as a novel, reads like a memoir since it's based on true experiences. Supposedly set in my hometown by a hometown author, with Montclair in the title, I was hoping the book was more setting driven.

[Patty · Rating 1 out of 5]

She should have written this as a memoir, if this is her story. The most important part of the book took up a whole 20 pages, and there were 100 pages devoted to crap absolutely meaningless to the story. I didn't hate it, but I would not read it again.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Being single I could relate to Isabel's feelings of being lonely and wanting someone in her life on the one hand and then seeing that being single is not necessarily being alone.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chick lit lite. But it kept my interest, moved right along. The fact that the story was set in Montclair, a couple of towns away from my hometown in northern NJ helped. The author lives there and so there is the right Jersey vibe.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written - especially the first few chapters where two storylines were concurrently told. I had some trouble connecting to a character who was desperate to get married but it was a fast, enjoyable read with an entire cast of fleshed out characters.

[Marianne Brodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should have been called "Manless in Suburbia." I read it strictly b/c the title had it set in my hometown. There were approximately 3 references to area venues. That would have been the whole fun of the read. Will pass on to my former classmates just bc.

[Kristy]

I was sort of disappointed in this book. Its inconceivable to me how someone can go looking for a new husband so shortly after losing one. It just turned me off.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems like a lot of people dis this book as chick lit or somehow unfocused or not meaningful, but honestly it really spoke to me.