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The After Wife
L.A. is no place for widows. This is what forty-four-year-old Hannah Bernal quickly discovers after the tragic death of her handsome and loving husband, John. Misery and red-rimmed eyes are little tolerated in the land of the beautiful. But life stumbles on: Hannah’s sweet three-year-old daughter, Ellie, needs to be dropped off at her overpriced preschool, while Hannah herself must get back to work in order to pay the bills on “Casa Sugar,” the charming Spanish-styled bungalow they call home.
Fortunately, Hannah has her “Grief Team” for emotional support: earth mother and fanatical animal lover Chloe, who finds a potential blog post in every moment; aspiring actress Aimee, who has her cosmetic surgeon on speed dial; and Jay, Hannah’s TV producing partner, who has a penchant for Mr. Wrong. But after a series of mishaps and bizarre occurrences, one of which finds Hannah in a posh Santa Monica jail cell, her friends start to fear for her sanity. To make matters worse, John left their financial affairs in a disastrous state. And when Hannah is dramatically fired from her latest producing gig, she finds herself in danger of losing her house, her daughter, and her mind.
One night, standing in her backyard under a majestic avocado tree, in the throes of grief, Hannah breaks down and asks, “Why?” The answer that comes back—Why not?—begins an astounding journey of discovery and transformation that leads Hannah to her own truly extraordinary life after death.
Fortunately, Hannah has her “Grief Team” for emotional support: earth mother and fanatical animal lover Chloe, who finds a potential blog post in every moment; aspiring actress Aimee, who has her cosmetic surgeon on speed dial; and Jay, Hannah’s TV producing partner, who has a penchant for Mr. Wrong. But after a series of mishaps and bizarre occurrences, one of which finds Hannah in a posh Santa Monica jail cell, her friends start to fear for her sanity. To make matters worse, John left their financial affairs in a disastrous state. And when Hannah is dramatically fired from her latest producing gig, she finds herself in danger of losing her house, her daughter, and her mind.
One night, standing in her backyard under a majestic avocado tree, in the throes of grief, Hannah breaks down and asks, “Why?” The answer that comes back—Why not?—begins an astounding journey of discovery and transformation that leads Hannah to her own truly extraordinary life after death.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 29, 2012
364 people are currently reading
2457 people want to read
About the author
Gigi Levangie Grazer
11 books331 followersGigi Levangie is the author of six prior novels, including The After Wife and the New York Times bestseller The Starter Wife, which was adapted as a miniseries for USA Network.
She is the original writer of the screenplay for Stepmom and has written for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, and other publications. Levangie lives in Los Angeles.
She is the original writer of the screenplay for Stepmom and has written for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, and other publications. Levangie lives in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 460 reviews
December 24, 2012
When I saw this book on the library shelf, I thought, "Pass it up, you didn't really enjoy the writing in 'The Starter Wife.". Should have listened to my instincts. The book certainly wasn't unreadable - I did make it to the end, even though it was as predictable as can be.
My issue with Levangie Grazer is her contstant sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, "Everyone in L.A. Is so self-absorbed, it is so craaaazy," commentary. She can't even write about a trip to the yoga studio without a perpetual pitter-patter of this "witty banter," whihch is exhausting as a reader and makes you want to tell her characters to zip it and go live in Idaho.
I wouldn't even recommend this one as an easy beach read, you'll likely end up annoyed at the characters and frustrated at the writing style. Only gets two stars because I did make it to the end, just to see if it was going to end predictably. It did.
My issue with Levangie Grazer is her contstant sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, "Everyone in L.A. Is so self-absorbed, it is so craaaazy," commentary. She can't even write about a trip to the yoga studio without a perpetual pitter-patter of this "witty banter," whihch is exhausting as a reader and makes you want to tell her characters to zip it and go live in Idaho.
I wouldn't even recommend this one as an easy beach read, you'll likely end up annoyed at the characters and frustrated at the writing style. Only gets two stars because I did make it to the end, just to see if it was going to end predictably. It did.
November 24, 2017
It's a typical Saturday morning in the Bernal home. After some early morning love making, Hannah returns to sleep as her husband, John heads off to the farmer's market. Since John is a chef, he does all of the cooking. Hannah is awakened shortly after by the phone ringing. The person on the other end is saying words, but Hannah can not believe the words that she is saying. Her husband is dead. She can still she the indent from his head on the pillow, this can't be true. But it is, and as Hannah comes to grip with this, her life gets turned upside down. Left to raise their three year old daughter, Ellie, which was also John's job since he was home during the day, Hannah is unsure of how to take the next steps. When she looses her job, her house and her mind, it all her friends can do to keep her together.
This was a cute story about a widow who turns into a medium. After the death of her husband,Hannah starts to see dead people showing up around every corner. Because of this, she puts her job in jeopardy. But with her job is also the job of her best friend Jay. They are producers for a reality show, and without this job, Hannah will not make it. Then she finds out that John had not kept up on his life insurance payments, another blow. And the dead people who won't go away.
All in all, this story was good. A bit long, but otherwise I enjoyed it.
This was a cute story about a widow who turns into a medium. After the death of her husband,Hannah starts to see dead people showing up around every corner. Because of this, she puts her job in jeopardy. But with her job is also the job of her best friend Jay. They are producers for a reality show, and without this job, Hannah will not make it. Then she finds out that John had not kept up on his life insurance payments, another blow. And the dead people who won't go away.
All in all, this story was good. A bit long, but otherwise I enjoyed it.
July 29, 2012
Reminds me why I don't read chic lit. Too self-aware and not remotely insightful.
August 18, 2018
The subject of widowhood is not usually one of humor but Grazer makes it so and I thought it was hysterical in so many ways. From our widow's unique friends to the ghosts that keep popping up to give her messages, The After Wife is an easy and fun read. They could easily make this into a movie and I kinda hope they do.
January 24, 2018
Is this a Pulitzer Prize worthy book? No...not at all! So why the 5 stars? Because sometimes you just need a fun-quirky easy to read story for those in between reading Pulitzer Prize winning book!
June 18, 2012
"The After Wife", by Gigi Levangie Grazer, took me outside of my reading box in an enjoyable manner. I believe that everyone has a right to grieve in their own way, and each of us moves on with our lives in our own time. Sometimes you have to face your biggest fears in order to poke holes in them, and then you can really learn to live. Hannah Bernal is a happily-married forty-something mom to a three-year-old girl. Life in L.A. is good for Hannah and her happy house-husband, John, a chef and cookbook author. When John is killed in a tragic accident, Hannah can't go on--can she? She tries her best to survive with the help of friends and family, some of whom are no longer among the living. That's right. Hannah sees dead people. That includes her late husband and also the deceased former owner of her home. If that's not enough to drive a widow-woman bonkers, Hannah loses her job. Life throws one curveball after another at Hannah, but eventually gets herself a catcher's mitt and throws a few fastballs of her own. The humor here is as sharp as the sense of loss, and the story line is reminiscent of a 30's screwball comedy. A zingy, zappy, sweet & snappy read that will tug a few heartstrings at the same time it tickles the funny bone.
Review Copy Gratis Library Thing
Review Copy Gratis Library Thing
April 3, 2017
This was an odd book and that makes it tough to rate. There were some parts that really spoke to me and that shows good skill on the author's part. However, those parts were few and far between and the rest of the book breaks almost every writing rule there is. The protagonist doesn't drive the story at all, events happen purely by coincidence and for plot convenience, characters rarely behave in a believable manner, dozens of sub-plots are tossed in and then dropped for no discernible reason, and the entire book is about three times as long as it needs to be.
Let's start with the good. The beginning of the book where the protagonist, Hannah, loses her husband was well done. It really struck a chord with me and I found myself tearing up as I imagined how awful it would be to lose my own husband in such a terrible way. There were also a few lines from Hannah's friends, The Grief Team, in the beginning that made me chuckle. That is really saying something because this was right in the midst of the "so torn up about the death" part that a line has to be truly hysterical to make my emotions swing back the other way.
Unfortunately, everything after that just didn't work for me. Hannah is a very difficult protagonist to root for because she does absolutely nothing to help her own situation. I understand that she's grieving for her husband, but she's also got a 3-year-old daughter who is grieving too and needs her mother's support. Hannah completely, completely fails to be there for this little girl. She leaves it to her gay friend, Jay, to dress the girl for school everyday and half the time forgets to pick her up in the afternoon. The whole book is told from Hannah's perspective and the amount of time she spends actually thinking about her daughter is pitiful. Everything is framed in terms of herself. She's not the domestic type so her daughter would be better off without her, etc.. It's just not good heroine material.
On top of that, Hannah is vaguely aware of the fact that she's quickly going broke, but does nothing whatsoever to correct this issue. She totally blows an important meeting with her bosses so that she and Jay get fired, then goes back to sitting in her house all day wallowing in self pity with no real plan on how to keep her daughter fed for the next 15 years. All of this might have been acceptable, or at least understandable, if she'd been on her own. But she's got a kid to support and it's just not okay for her to be this irresponsible, no matter how much grief she's experiencing.
Meanwhile, Hannah has started seeing dead people. It starts with an old ghost named Trish who pops by for a chat every now and then and quickly progresses to her dead husband, John. You'd think that being able to speak to him would have alleviated some of her grief to the point where she could start functioning again but it doesn't. John tells her that the illegal immigrant the police have charged with his death is not, in fact, the culprit but rather a good Samaritan who stopped to help and said a prayer as John's life slipped away. He tells Hannah that the person who killed him in a hit-and-run was a snotty rich mom who was texting while driving her black Range Rover and begs Hannah to find the real killer so the Samaritan will be set free. Hannah listens to this tale and.....does absolutely nothing with it. She tells the cop in charge, who clearly thinks she's nuts, and that's the end of it. She doesn't even go driving around town looking for black Range Rovers with damage to the front, etc. Months and months go by and the poor Samaritan rots in jail while she drinks lattes and goes to spas. Wow. And hey, here's a question: why couldn't John search for this Range Rover on his own? As a ghost, can't he go wherever he wants? And he actually SAW this woman, so he's the one who can identify her. Why couldn't he find her, then pop back to Hannah's and say "she lives at 123 This Street and her name is Kiki Jones" or whatever. How exactly did he expect Hannah to track her down with nothing more to go on than the car and color?
The rest of the story is a confusing mish-mash of totally unconnected subplots. One of Hannah's best friends gets cancer and this major news is covered in about 3 sentences of the story and never mentioned again. Jay has an on-again, off-again relationship with a guy named Hidalgo who never appears on screen and was irrelevant to the plot. Chloe has a passel of dogs with her wherever she goes but ignores her human children the whole book and no one seems to care. There's a totally, totally unnecessary subplot about there being coyotes in this neighborhood ripping apart everyone's pet dogs, which I as a dog lover found very disturbing. All the stuff about the daughter's school was introduced and then completely dropped from the story. And in the dozen or so instances where Hannah saw a ghost and passed a message along to the appropriate living person, we never once saw any kind of resolution to that situation. For example, she tells her daughter's teacher to get out of her abusive relationship, but then we never see the woman on screen again. We never see her coming back to Hannah and thanking her, etc. We're just left to assume it all worked out. And how did telling the chick at the coffee shop that her horse missed her, help the woman's life? We never get to find out. It made all the ghost scenes feel very gratuitous because they were all so irrelevant to the over arching story.
And the ending was practically the textbook on plot contrivance.
Like I said, this book broke practically every writing rule I can think of and the ending was just one eye-rollingly convenient coincidence after another. It left me feeling unsatisfied with Hannah's happily ever after because she'd done absolutely NOTHING to earn it. It all just fell into her lap after hundreds of pages of irresponsible behavior.
Let's start with the good. The beginning of the book where the protagonist, Hannah, loses her husband was well done. It really struck a chord with me and I found myself tearing up as I imagined how awful it would be to lose my own husband in such a terrible way. There were also a few lines from Hannah's friends, The Grief Team, in the beginning that made me chuckle. That is really saying something because this was right in the midst of the "so torn up about the death" part that a line has to be truly hysterical to make my emotions swing back the other way.
Unfortunately, everything after that just didn't work for me. Hannah is a very difficult protagonist to root for because she does absolutely nothing to help her own situation. I understand that she's grieving for her husband, but she's also got a 3-year-old daughter who is grieving too and needs her mother's support. Hannah completely, completely fails to be there for this little girl. She leaves it to her gay friend, Jay, to dress the girl for school everyday and half the time forgets to pick her up in the afternoon. The whole book is told from Hannah's perspective and the amount of time she spends actually thinking about her daughter is pitiful. Everything is framed in terms of herself. She's not the domestic type so her daughter would be better off without her, etc.. It's just not good heroine material.
On top of that, Hannah is vaguely aware of the fact that she's quickly going broke, but does nothing whatsoever to correct this issue. She totally blows an important meeting with her bosses so that she and Jay get fired, then goes back to sitting in her house all day wallowing in self pity with no real plan on how to keep her daughter fed for the next 15 years. All of this might have been acceptable, or at least understandable, if she'd been on her own. But she's got a kid to support and it's just not okay for her to be this irresponsible, no matter how much grief she's experiencing.
Meanwhile, Hannah has started seeing dead people. It starts with an old ghost named Trish who pops by for a chat every now and then and quickly progresses to her dead husband, John. You'd think that being able to speak to him would have alleviated some of her grief to the point where she could start functioning again but it doesn't. John tells her that the illegal immigrant the police have charged with his death is not, in fact, the culprit but rather a good Samaritan who stopped to help and said a prayer as John's life slipped away. He tells Hannah that the person who killed him in a hit-and-run was a snotty rich mom who was texting while driving her black Range Rover and begs Hannah to find the real killer so the Samaritan will be set free. Hannah listens to this tale and.....does absolutely nothing with it. She tells the cop in charge, who clearly thinks she's nuts, and that's the end of it. She doesn't even go driving around town looking for black Range Rovers with damage to the front, etc. Months and months go by and the poor Samaritan rots in jail while she drinks lattes and goes to spas. Wow. And hey, here's a question: why couldn't John search for this Range Rover on his own? As a ghost, can't he go wherever he wants? And he actually SAW this woman, so he's the one who can identify her. Why couldn't he find her, then pop back to Hannah's and say "she lives at 123 This Street and her name is Kiki Jones" or whatever. How exactly did he expect Hannah to track her down with nothing more to go on than the car and color?
The rest of the story is a confusing mish-mash of totally unconnected subplots. One of Hannah's best friends gets cancer and this major news is covered in about 3 sentences of the story and never mentioned again. Jay has an on-again, off-again relationship with a guy named Hidalgo who never appears on screen and was irrelevant to the plot. Chloe has a passel of dogs with her wherever she goes but ignores her human children the whole book and no one seems to care. There's a totally, totally unnecessary subplot about there being coyotes in this neighborhood ripping apart everyone's pet dogs, which I as a dog lover found very disturbing. All the stuff about the daughter's school was introduced and then completely dropped from the story. And in the dozen or so instances where Hannah saw a ghost and passed a message along to the appropriate living person, we never once saw any kind of resolution to that situation. For example, she tells her daughter's teacher to get out of her abusive relationship, but then we never see the woman on screen again. We never see her coming back to Hannah and thanking her, etc. We're just left to assume it all worked out. And how did telling the chick at the coffee shop that her horse missed her, help the woman's life? We never get to find out. It made all the ghost scenes feel very gratuitous because they were all so irrelevant to the over arching story.
And the ending was practically the textbook on plot contrivance.
Like I said, this book broke practically every writing rule I can think of and the ending was just one eye-rollingly convenient coincidence after another. It left me feeling unsatisfied with Hannah's happily ever after because she'd done absolutely NOTHING to earn it. It all just fell into her lap after hundreds of pages of irresponsible behavior.
December 4, 2012
Oddly, I seem to be on a kick with reading books about women losing their husbands, perhaps because secretly I'm curious about what people have found to be the most intimate part of their relationship -- the part that they miss about someone when that person is gone. So given the subject matter of this book, I was a little taken aback by the flippant manner in which the subject of death and grief is portrayed. And as a fellow Angeleno (granted, from a more middle-class, more ethnic part of town... and currently transplanted on the east coast), I was also a little taken aback by the way the city was portrayed. In case you are not from LA and were wondering, yes LA is a city where you can completely forget what is going on in other parts of the world sometimes, but the book takes that and RUNS WITH IT like it's a marathon.
But once I got over the fact that this is more a fantasy story book and not this weighty, philosophical dialogue, it was actually not bad. And, as girl who grew up in Los Angeles, I did appreciate her sense of humor as she described the classic stereotypical LA lifestyle of the well-to-do.
At the start, we find Hannah having an idyllic Saturday morning routine with her amazing celebrity-chef husband, and then in the next chapter he's run over by a car as he's biking to the Santa Monica farmer's market, and when her friends come over, their attempts at being there for her entail figuring out which designer black dress she should wear to the funeral, and whether black veils (veils in general) are en vogue.
The book mostly follows that line of humor. In other words, it's not really a book about death, so much as a lighthearted book about life, with death kind of as a backdrop. It's funny, although more in a Legally Blond way than a true black humor style. At times I got a little frustrated by the vapid of the lives of the characters, but the humor does save the storyline, somehow. It's ridiculous, but it's funny.
But once I got over the fact that this is more a fantasy story book and not this weighty, philosophical dialogue, it was actually not bad. And, as girl who grew up in Los Angeles, I did appreciate her sense of humor as she described the classic stereotypical LA lifestyle of the well-to-do.
At the start, we find Hannah having an idyllic Saturday morning routine with her amazing celebrity-chef husband, and then in the next chapter he's run over by a car as he's biking to the Santa Monica farmer's market, and when her friends come over, their attempts at being there for her entail figuring out which designer black dress she should wear to the funeral, and whether black veils (veils in general) are en vogue.
The book mostly follows that line of humor. In other words, it's not really a book about death, so much as a lighthearted book about life, with death kind of as a backdrop. It's funny, although more in a Legally Blond way than a true black humor style. At times I got a little frustrated by the vapid of the lives of the characters, but the humor does save the storyline, somehow. It's ridiculous, but it's funny.
February 6, 2015
Wow! Anyone who has a friend who has been widowed young should read this book. While overall it is a campy, fun story, the author really did her homework and totally nailed what life is like after the loss of your partner (well, except the part about seeing dead people-that's the campy, fun part).
Hannah is a happily married 44-year-old wife and mother. And then on a typical Saturday morning, her husband, John, heads out on his bicycle to the Farmer's Market and is killed when struck by a car. The story chronicles roughly the first year of her life as a widow and single mother to 3-year old Ellie, who was her late husband's little shadow.
After the death of John, Hannah discovers she can see and communicate with ghosts. At first this gives her hope she will be able to see John again, but it makes her friends (aka the "Grief Team") understandably think she is going crazy. Not that they don't have problems of their own! Best friend Jay is in love with a married man who keeps going back and forth between Jay and his wife. Aimee is an aging actress trying to keep herself young via plastic surgery while she still holds out hope for landing the role of a lifetime. And Chloe is an unhappily married blogger who can't stop adopting dogs, to the extent even her children act like them.
I was very impressed with how well the seemingly little details were written: from yelling at well meaning friends NOT to do the laundry so Hannah could preserve something with his scent to looking in the mirror and not recognizing the face staring back at you to asking "Why?" and having "Why not?" be the answer that comes back to you and so many more! Given this book started out with the death of John, and covers young widowhood so well, it could easily have been a depressing tear-jerker. But instead, it's a rather humorous story that just happens to be about a young widow and her friends.
Hannah is a happily married 44-year-old wife and mother. And then on a typical Saturday morning, her husband, John, heads out on his bicycle to the Farmer's Market and is killed when struck by a car. The story chronicles roughly the first year of her life as a widow and single mother to 3-year old Ellie, who was her late husband's little shadow.
After the death of John, Hannah discovers she can see and communicate with ghosts. At first this gives her hope she will be able to see John again, but it makes her friends (aka the "Grief Team") understandably think she is going crazy. Not that they don't have problems of their own! Best friend Jay is in love with a married man who keeps going back and forth between Jay and his wife. Aimee is an aging actress trying to keep herself young via plastic surgery while she still holds out hope for landing the role of a lifetime. And Chloe is an unhappily married blogger who can't stop adopting dogs, to the extent even her children act like them.
I was very impressed with how well the seemingly little details were written: from yelling at well meaning friends NOT to do the laundry so Hannah could preserve something with his scent to looking in the mirror and not recognizing the face staring back at you to asking "Why?" and having "Why not?" be the answer that comes back to you and so many more! Given this book started out with the death of John, and covers young widowhood so well, it could easily have been a depressing tear-jerker. But instead, it's a rather humorous story that just happens to be about a young widow and her friends.
April 22, 2013
I was looking for a California book to listen to while I was driving in California, so I picked this up - but it was too California for me, too southern CA to be specific. Since I have already given up on two books this year, I thought I would stick it out and see what the author had to say. Hannah works in the reality TV industry, but when her wonderful husband John is killed in a car accident and leaves her with 3 year old daughter Ellie, she loses it. Understandable after such a devastating loss, but somehow I could never quite feel empathy for this woman. She was funny in a way that is not funny to me. Her trio of friends - one earth mother, one aging starlet, one gay TV producer with a highly developed sense of style just did not appeal to me, felt too stereotypical, though they did stick by her side until she finally started pulling out of depression. The kind of things they choose to do together, which Hannah doesn't enjoy - like going to a spa for cleansing on New Year's just left me baffled. The part that kept me reading was that Hannah could talk to ghosts. In her grief she becomes open to spirits of the deceased. I was wondering where the author would take this. I did enjoy the fact that she changed some people's lives for the better when she gave them messages from deceased loved ones. But though I believe the spirits of loved ones stay around for a bit after they have died, her spirit world was too corny for my tastes. My short trip to LA and SF reminded me that what I love is northern CA and northern Californians - they still wear tie died sundresses, etc. I enjoyed all the people I met, but the world reflected in this book reminds me that I don't want to live in southern California.
March 11, 2014
I did not like Grazer's most recent book. While I love reading about LA/Santa Monica, I found a lot of what was written hard to believe, and I am not referring to the medium plot points. I found it unrealistic that a woman would go as long as Hannah did without telling her daughter that her father has died. Hannah becoming a medium as soon as her husband died was beyond my suspension of belief. I felt that Grazer bounced around from character to character without fully fleshing out anyone and I never got a sense of what really drove them to do the things they did. I think that the book would have worked for me if it was indeed about an LA producer recently widowed and how to navigate post-mortem tinsel town without the whole ghost aspect.
July 20, 2012
Surprisingly good and heartwarming. I laughed out loud at parts and then felt great empathy for the main character.
This book is especially enjoyable if you know LA, specifically the west side and Santa Monica.
December 11, 2019
I picked this one up from a recommendation from the librarian. She said it was funny and silly. It was silly. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. I found them all annoying. However, the writing in general was very good. Decent pacing. I liked the first few chapters as she was setting up the story. But as the story continued I struggled with the choices the characters made.
December 13, 2019
3.5. It was a bit dated with all its references, but I still did lol at the ca lifestyle. Started out like soft porn, was ready to quit 5' in but plowed on, was looking for light hearted read, typical chickish lit with a few quirks tossed in.
October 22, 2018
Don’t bother with this one. It is shallow, insipid and decidedly unfunny, although it tries far too hard to be amusing.
May 2, 2022
This was so hard to follow. I made it 100 pages and gave up. The subject of grief and death was handled incredibly lightly i thought
May 15, 2022
Have you ever wanted to just reach through the pages of a book, smack the main characters, and say, "OMG! Grow up!!" Yep, me too, especially with this book.
Go Cards! L1C4!!
Go Cards! L1C4!!
June 28, 2012
MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
Hannah, a producer of reality shows, is married to the love of her life and when he is killed while riding his bike, her world crumbles. Her "grief team" surrounds her with love and tries to get her back on track to keep her and her young daughter from despair and becoming homeless. Jay, her multi talented, gay, producing partner is always there for her and makes sure Ellie, is always dressed in style. Aimee, is the quintessential LA actress, but with a heart and may always be know as "that girl in the shampoo commercial". Chloe, ohmigosh, where do I start with Chloe, she is everything I hate about LA, but I did end up loving her at the end. Chloe is a dog rescuing (bonus points!), yoga practicing Uber Mommy that is probably better known as Momzilla, except with a spray tan and lots of blond highlights, married to a financier and on her way down in the bank account.
When Ellie is kicked out of her posh pre school for talking to her dead dad, things really get out of control quickly. Hannah starts to hear voices and then sees people, dead people, who give her really amazing advice and she starts to think she is crazy and leads to her to several laugh out loud mishaps. I didn't really expect this book to be paranormal, but I knew that the original working title was Happy Medium and being a huge fan of the Long Island Medium, well, you can see which direction this book took. It was so easy to walk me though that door and into believing that this could happen to an ordinary person. Her besties are just some of the funniest characters that I have read about in a long time.
Sigh, I always read Gigi's books without stopping and since I have read everything of hers, I always hate the wait until her next book arrives. I think I did this one in a record 3 hours. If you need a perfect beach book, take this one with you. I may end up rereading this one since I adored the laughs so much. Oh, this would make an awesome television series and since the author already has the Starter Wife, this could be huge. I would love to follow Hannah as she talks to more dead people and helps others with their lives. Also....the author has a DACHSHUND! You know my rules...any author with a dachshund rules.
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
Hannah, a producer of reality shows, is married to the love of her life and when he is killed while riding his bike, her world crumbles. Her "grief team" surrounds her with love and tries to get her back on track to keep her and her young daughter from despair and becoming homeless. Jay, her multi talented, gay, producing partner is always there for her and makes sure Ellie, is always dressed in style. Aimee, is the quintessential LA actress, but with a heart and may always be know as "that girl in the shampoo commercial". Chloe, ohmigosh, where do I start with Chloe, she is everything I hate about LA, but I did end up loving her at the end. Chloe is a dog rescuing (bonus points!), yoga practicing Uber Mommy that is probably better known as Momzilla, except with a spray tan and lots of blond highlights, married to a financier and on her way down in the bank account.
When Ellie is kicked out of her posh pre school for talking to her dead dad, things really get out of control quickly. Hannah starts to hear voices and then sees people, dead people, who give her really amazing advice and she starts to think she is crazy and leads to her to several laugh out loud mishaps. I didn't really expect this book to be paranormal, but I knew that the original working title was Happy Medium and being a huge fan of the Long Island Medium, well, you can see which direction this book took. It was so easy to walk me though that door and into believing that this could happen to an ordinary person. Her besties are just some of the funniest characters that I have read about in a long time.
Sigh, I always read Gigi's books without stopping and since I have read everything of hers, I always hate the wait until her next book arrives. I think I did this one in a record 3 hours. If you need a perfect beach book, take this one with you. I may end up rereading this one since I adored the laughs so much. Oh, this would make an awesome television series and since the author already has the Starter Wife, this could be huge. I would love to follow Hannah as she talks to more dead people and helps others with their lives. Also....the author has a DACHSHUND! You know my rules...any author with a dachshund rules.
July 3, 2012
The After Wife is a surprisingly hilarious, poignant yet uplifting read which I really enjoyed. Despite dealing sensitively with the serious themes of grief, loss and healing, Grazer keeps the tone light and I loved Grazer's sense of humour, wry and ridiculous in turn.
Hannah is a sympathetic and likeable protagonist, her grief at losing her husband so suddenly is overwhelming and she struggles to deal with her pain. Mired in self pity, she asks 'Why?' and receives an answer from an unexpected source, the former owner of her home Casa Sugar, who happens to be deceased. Hannah is pretty sure she is going crazy, especially as spirits start to appear everywhere, desperate for her to pass on messages to their loved ones, but she doesn't have time to think about it too much, she has to deal with raising her three year old daughter, Ellie, alone, losing her job and discovering her husband's insurance has lapsed. And dating.
Luckily Hannah can rely on her Grief Team for both comfort and comic relief. Loveable, if slightly absurd caricatures, Jay - her fashionista BFF with bad taste in men, Aimee who is robbed of all expression by Botox and plastic surgery, and Chloe who has a penchant for rescue dogs and bouncing cheques, support Hannah and Ellie in their time of need with questionable advice, vodka and colonics.
Grazer pokes fun at the worst examples of excess by the upscale residents of California's Santa Monica and sprinkles pop culture references through out the story. I thought at times it was a little heavy handed but it provides the ideal setting for the story.
Funny, engaging and moving, The After Wife is a wonderful light read sure to charm you on a long summer's day (or a cold winters eve) that proves life is for living.
Hannah is a sympathetic and likeable protagonist, her grief at losing her husband so suddenly is overwhelming and she struggles to deal with her pain. Mired in self pity, she asks 'Why?' and receives an answer from an unexpected source, the former owner of her home Casa Sugar, who happens to be deceased. Hannah is pretty sure she is going crazy, especially as spirits start to appear everywhere, desperate for her to pass on messages to their loved ones, but she doesn't have time to think about it too much, she has to deal with raising her three year old daughter, Ellie, alone, losing her job and discovering her husband's insurance has lapsed. And dating.
Luckily Hannah can rely on her Grief Team for both comfort and comic relief. Loveable, if slightly absurd caricatures, Jay - her fashionista BFF with bad taste in men, Aimee who is robbed of all expression by Botox and plastic surgery, and Chloe who has a penchant for rescue dogs and bouncing cheques, support Hannah and Ellie in their time of need with questionable advice, vodka and colonics.
Grazer pokes fun at the worst examples of excess by the upscale residents of California's Santa Monica and sprinkles pop culture references through out the story. I thought at times it was a little heavy handed but it provides the ideal setting for the story.
Funny, engaging and moving, The After Wife is a wonderful light read sure to charm you on a long summer's day (or a cold winters eve) that proves life is for living.
March 5, 2018
The book started out really strong and then just kind of tanked for me. I am the type of person where, if I like the book, I can retain minute details about it. I can stop reading somewhere and still be able to pick back up where the story is no longer how much time has passed. I did not experience that with this book. I was roughly halfway through when I put it down and when I came back, I could not remember half of what was going on. It was just very easily forgotten and the story was all over the place. The description on the back makes this seem like it will be a great book about a widow who learns to overcome in the face of death, but instead, it just screams "reality" television. In between her ability to suddenly see dead people, being attracted to any guy who gives her any form of attention, her "support network" of friends that all have severe issues, and then randomly being tasked to solve her husband's murder since she can see dead people and now solving all the cold case files, it was just too much for one book. The characters are easily forgotten, the story does not feel real, and it took until the last 2 pages of the book to finally find out who killed the husband. Overall I would not recommend it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2012
This had the potential to be a four star, but I was slightly disappointed in the second half of the book. It started out strong, reminding me of Good Grief, with a great description of a young woman experiencing the unexpected death of her husband. I totally was feeling it. Not being married, I can't say how realistic the description of the marriage and loss was, I loved that he seemed like a real person with faults and all. As the book moves through the next few months, Hannah begins to see and talk to dead people, starting with the woman who used to own her house and including her husband. A little of that goes a long way. We see her interact with dead people about everywhere she goes, impacting her job and her relationships with her best friends, her "grief team." She lives outside L.A. in what sounds like a place that can't really exist with characters that are too large for life (which perhaps is why many of them are dead). I enjoyed it, but I started out liking it because of how much I thought this could really happen to someone and ended up getting something still beautiful but a little more unrealistic.
June 2, 2015
I read other reviews of this book, and people complained about the heroine's "flippant" tone after the death of her husband. I think Gigi Levangie Grazer is one of the funniest authors out there. The tough thing about humor is that most people find the same things tragic, but people's sense of humor differs widely. I thought the book was excellent in portraying the heroine's grief. She sometimes was humorous, but at other times she could barely cope. The scenes with her three-year-old daughter were particularly touching.
I enjoyed all the snotty comments about L.A. and particularly Santa Monica. High colonics anyone?
The plot wanders a bit, but I didn't care because I enjoyed the humor so much.
I did question why the heroine hung out with her two girlfriends. One was self-absorbed and perpetually crabby, and the other was a woo-woo airhead. Her gay friend was the funniest character in the book and was a good buddy to her.
This is my first book by this author and I look forward to reading others.
I enjoyed all the snotty comments about L.A. and particularly Santa Monica. High colonics anyone?
The plot wanders a bit, but I didn't care because I enjoyed the humor so much.
I did question why the heroine hung out with her two girlfriends. One was self-absorbed and perpetually crabby, and the other was a woo-woo airhead. Her gay friend was the funniest character in the book and was a good buddy to her.
This is my first book by this author and I look forward to reading others.
September 3, 2018
this was supposed to be a humorous/dark comedy novel.
i couldn't finish it. i gave up after chapter 5.
first, the lead character is a widow grieving for her husband.
umm...yeah...bummer!
but i was waiting for the story to turn & the humor to start. it didn't.
too many characters. i got confused.
yeah...i just didn't get it.
i couldn't finish it. i gave up after chapter 5.
first, the lead character is a widow grieving for her husband.
umm...yeah...bummer!
but i was waiting for the story to turn & the humor to start. it didn't.
too many characters. i got confused.
yeah...i just didn't get it.
July 15, 2012
I found this book hard to read....that is why it took me a long time to get through it....I would get bored with it and put it down and then pick it up only to get lost as to where the story was.
On the upside I enjoyed the "support" group of friends that she had....but I felt they were too much in the picture of her grief....somewhat exaggerated.
If you want a book that takes not much thought than this is the one for you. I do appreciate though the opportunity to read it.
On the upside I enjoyed the "support" group of friends that she had....but I felt they were too much in the picture of her grief....somewhat exaggerated.
If you want a book that takes not much thought than this is the one for you. I do appreciate though the opportunity to read it.
October 7, 2012
I loved this book!! It'll make you smile, cry, laugh out loud, make you sad, make you happy... Never would I have thought I'd have so much fun reading about a wife's "After" .......
July 17, 2013
funny and charming. great characters.
January 19, 2016
Pretty fun, lots of entertaining inner life, and ghosts! Mostly I'm just so, so happy to see another person ridiculing the Spiritual Gangster thing. W...tf.
February 27, 2018
Didn’t get halfway done. I like the beginning but just couldn’t get into the storyline after The husband passes away.
August 12, 2018
44 year old Hannah was a widow. Married for only 4 sweet years, she was left with her precious 3 year old daughter Ellie; Hannah is not coping well.
Hannah's husband John was quite the catch and he was liked by all who knew him. Once a well known chef, he gave up his job cooking for the elite to stay at home. He wrote his series of cookbooks for bachelors and became as Ellie put it it "Daddy/Mommy". He loved spending time with his daughter, taking her to preschool, baking for the fundraisers, taking her for walks and to play in the park. He was born to be a daddy.
Hannah loved her daughter too, but with John staying at home she was able to keep her job working with her best friend Jay. They wrote for a reality show. She became known as Mommy/Daddy. Their lives were full of great food, deep love, and family adventures. It was so good.
It was so good until Hannah received word that John was killed by a car and died before she could get to him. Her life fell apart. She lost track of time, and sadly, Ellie's needs. Good friends Jay, Chloe, and Aimee were there for Ellie and for Hannah. Hannah believed she was losing touch with reality, and when she appeared to be talking to avocado tree, her friends believed it also. Oddly, though, Hannah claimed to be having visits from the deceased elderly woman who used to own the home she and John had made their own.
Hannah really wasn't too worried. She was, after all, "losing it"; being visited by a dead person must just be part of it. It isn't until she heard Ellie talking to her daddy at bedtime, insisting that John was visiting her and reading her the bedtime stories that she became worried. It was worse when Ellie was asked to leave the prestigious preschool she attended because she was telling everyone her daddy came to visit her.
Through all of this, Hannah landed in jail, lost her job, and found herself talking to all sorts of dead people who show up at convenient times for them, but not for Hannah. (That's how she ended up in jail and lost her job.) Finally, John visits her as well. He made a request of Hannah and she did her best to grant it.
It was a quirky, sadly sweet and sweetly sad story that captivated me. Hannah and her extreme friends (you really have to get to know them!) were lovable and outrageous but they all had Hannah's welfare in mind. I loved getting to know them all and wondering what they would be up to next...and I wondered if John's request would be answered. It was all up to Hannah...and maybe a little help from..."her friends".
Hannah's husband John was quite the catch and he was liked by all who knew him. Once a well known chef, he gave up his job cooking for the elite to stay at home. He wrote his series of cookbooks for bachelors and became as Ellie put it it "Daddy/Mommy". He loved spending time with his daughter, taking her to preschool, baking for the fundraisers, taking her for walks and to play in the park. He was born to be a daddy.
Hannah loved her daughter too, but with John staying at home she was able to keep her job working with her best friend Jay. They wrote for a reality show. She became known as Mommy/Daddy. Their lives were full of great food, deep love, and family adventures. It was so good.
It was so good until Hannah received word that John was killed by a car and died before she could get to him. Her life fell apart. She lost track of time, and sadly, Ellie's needs. Good friends Jay, Chloe, and Aimee were there for Ellie and for Hannah. Hannah believed she was losing touch with reality, and when she appeared to be talking to avocado tree, her friends believed it also. Oddly, though, Hannah claimed to be having visits from the deceased elderly woman who used to own the home she and John had made their own.
Hannah really wasn't too worried. She was, after all, "losing it"; being visited by a dead person must just be part of it. It isn't until she heard Ellie talking to her daddy at bedtime, insisting that John was visiting her and reading her the bedtime stories that she became worried. It was worse when Ellie was asked to leave the prestigious preschool she attended because she was telling everyone her daddy came to visit her.
Through all of this, Hannah landed in jail, lost her job, and found herself talking to all sorts of dead people who show up at convenient times for them, but not for Hannah. (That's how she ended up in jail and lost her job.) Finally, John visits her as well. He made a request of Hannah and she did her best to grant it.
It was a quirky, sadly sweet and sweetly sad story that captivated me. Hannah and her extreme friends (you really have to get to know them!) were lovable and outrageous but they all had Hannah's welfare in mind. I loved getting to know them all and wondering what they would be up to next...and I wondered if John's request would be answered. It was all up to Hannah...and maybe a little help from..."her friends".
November 22, 2017
This book took me by surprise. I’d put it on hold on my e-library list a long time ago, so when it popped up as available, I’d forgotten what the book was about and why I wanted to read it in the first place. But it didn’t take long to get into. When I realized the Author is the same who wrote The Starter Wife, I recognized the style right away.
I don’t like repeating plot summaries, since they’re so readily available at the top of this page. In this case, the summary is fairly good - it’s not misleading. But you must be prepared to run the gambit of emotions as you read the book. Be prepared to laugh out loud… to feel sad and possibly even tear up or cry… to be stunned… and yeah, to be happy in blissful moments of pure joy.
If you don’t like woo-woo (a bit of supernatural aka ghosts/talking to dead people), then you might not like this book. While the emphasis is not on the ritual or making “magic” to call upon the dead, Hannah does acquire that “gift” as part of the plot progression. What I found so interesting is that she didn’t really question or rail about this “gift”. She mostly just went with it, which made the whole thing much more palatable to me. But it sure causes some trouble and crazy situations for Hannah!
The book’s main themes are love, relationships, death, and grief - how we do or don’t “deal” with these in our lives. While it touches on depression and sadness (as a result of death), the book doesn’t dwell there. It’s mostly upbeat and positive, full of crazy friends, snobby neighbors and neighborhoods, and the almost desperate way that we, as individuals, value being in a romantic relationship and do just about anything to be in one.
For me, this was a one-sitting read. I didn’t want to put it down, but it’s also just over 300 pages. For me, this was one of my Sleeper Books of 2017 - an unexpected jewel.
I don’t like repeating plot summaries, since they’re so readily available at the top of this page. In this case, the summary is fairly good - it’s not misleading. But you must be prepared to run the gambit of emotions as you read the book. Be prepared to laugh out loud… to feel sad and possibly even tear up or cry… to be stunned… and yeah, to be happy in blissful moments of pure joy.
If you don’t like woo-woo (a bit of supernatural aka ghosts/talking to dead people), then you might not like this book. While the emphasis is not on the ritual or making “magic” to call upon the dead, Hannah does acquire that “gift” as part of the plot progression. What I found so interesting is that she didn’t really question or rail about this “gift”. She mostly just went with it, which made the whole thing much more palatable to me. But it sure causes some trouble and crazy situations for Hannah!
The book’s main themes are love, relationships, death, and grief - how we do or don’t “deal” with these in our lives. While it touches on depression and sadness (as a result of death), the book doesn’t dwell there. It’s mostly upbeat and positive, full of crazy friends, snobby neighbors and neighborhoods, and the almost desperate way that we, as individuals, value being in a romantic relationship and do just about anything to be in one.
For me, this was a one-sitting read. I didn’t want to put it down, but it’s also just over 300 pages. For me, this was one of my Sleeper Books of 2017 - an unexpected jewel.
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