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Girlfriending
After a brief but intense affair that ends in wreckage, a divorced mother of two sets out to mend her own shattered heart by going on ten first dates, a quest she takes on with the ride-or-die support of her best friend and the small but mighty community she gathers along the way.
From the award winning author of two beloved novels about the slippery terrain of love and marriage set in South Florida comes a story about remaking one's life midstream, an exploration of friendship, the search for love and community, courtship, sex, marriage, and all the shades in between, and a love song to the author’s adopted hometown of Madison, Wisconsin.
Girlfriending is a spinoff of Susanna’s award-winning short story, “The Goddess of Illicit Choices,” which won the 2024 Zona Gale Award for Short Fiction.
From the award winning author of two beloved novels about the slippery terrain of love and marriage set in South Florida comes a story about remaking one's life midstream, an exploration of friendship, the search for love and community, courtship, sex, marriage, and all the shades in between, and a love song to the author’s adopted hometown of Madison, Wisconsin.
Girlfriending is a spinoff of Susanna’s award-winning short story, “The Goddess of Illicit Choices,” which won the 2024 Zona Gale Award for Short Fiction.
- GenresFiction
242 pages, Paperback
Published February 10, 2026
3 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 11, 2026
Susanna's storytelling pulled me in on page one. Her voice feels like a friend sitting next to you, sharing all the wisdom. It captures all of the aspects of connection and left me thinking after the last page. It's definitely a fast and enjoyable read!
February 10, 2026
Girlfriending is alternately funny, soul rending, tender, sexy and insightful, chronicling the journey from heartbreak to reinvention. The characters jump off the page, palpable in their quirky pathos. It’s impossible not to root for a happy ending. I love the structure of the book, each chapter introducing a new romantic connection, some of whom stick around and others of whom fall away in the search for self and a special other. All the characters are delightfully flawed yet relatable and lovable. I particularly enjoyed the brother’s dating advice, which remains stuck in my head! I look forward to rereading this!
February 22, 2026
More middle-aged lesbian novels, please.
February 10, 2026
A stellar novel with such rich and poignantly observed slices from modern life. A literary joy and a gift to all readers. Congrats, Susanna!
March 5, 2026
I only picked this up because it was Valentine's Day and my mom's friend wrote it, but it was actually pretty good. It turned out to be kinda spicy, but congrats gang 🫰
February 11, 2026
A Must-Read Journey of Midlife Reawakening
Susanna Daniel’s Girlfriending is a masterfully written, evocative novel that captures the messy, hilarious, and deeply moving reality of a midlife queer awakening. At forty-seven, the narrator navigates the fallout of a heartbreaking end with a woman known only as "Z" by embarking on an experimental mission: going on ten first dates. This "lesbian adolescence" is rendered with incredible candor and wit, exploring the vulnerability of rediscovering oneself and one's body after decades in a conventional marriage. Daniel avoids self-help clichés, instead delivering a racy and tender story that feels as authentic as real life.
The novel shines in its portrayal of female friendship and the complexities of long-term bonds. The relationship between the narrator and her best friend, Amanda, serves as a grounded anchor throughout the chaotic dating experiment. Their shared history and evolving lives—including Amanda’s own marital struggles and eventual move—provide a rich emotional backdrop to the central quest for love. The prose is expertly plotted, balancing the "heat and heart" of new romantic encounters with the heavy, relatable themes of grief, aging, and the pursuit of a more authentic existence.
Girlfriending is a rare find: a story about midlife that feels fresh, mesmerizing, and unapologetically gleeful despite the tears shed along the way. Whether the narrator is clumsily splitting wood on a date or finding peace through an energy healer, her journey toward self-worth is universally resonant. It is a compassionate and truthful exploration of what it means to keep casting for love, even when you know how badly it can hurt. This book is a treasure for anyone who has ever had to break open their own life to find what lies beneath.
Susanna Daniel’s Girlfriending is a masterfully written, evocative novel that captures the messy, hilarious, and deeply moving reality of a midlife queer awakening. At forty-seven, the narrator navigates the fallout of a heartbreaking end with a woman known only as "Z" by embarking on an experimental mission: going on ten first dates. This "lesbian adolescence" is rendered with incredible candor and wit, exploring the vulnerability of rediscovering oneself and one's body after decades in a conventional marriage. Daniel avoids self-help clichés, instead delivering a racy and tender story that feels as authentic as real life.
The novel shines in its portrayal of female friendship and the complexities of long-term bonds. The relationship between the narrator and her best friend, Amanda, serves as a grounded anchor throughout the chaotic dating experiment. Their shared history and evolving lives—including Amanda’s own marital struggles and eventual move—provide a rich emotional backdrop to the central quest for love. The prose is expertly plotted, balancing the "heat and heart" of new romantic encounters with the heavy, relatable themes of grief, aging, and the pursuit of a more authentic existence.
Girlfriending is a rare find: a story about midlife that feels fresh, mesmerizing, and unapologetically gleeful despite the tears shed along the way. Whether the narrator is clumsily splitting wood on a date or finding peace through an energy healer, her journey toward self-worth is universally resonant. It is a compassionate and truthful exploration of what it means to keep casting for love, even when you know how badly it can hurt. This book is a treasure for anyone who has ever had to break open their own life to find what lies beneath.
February 23, 2026
We 👏 Love 👏 Gay 👏 Madison 👏 Authors 👏
It takes a lot to get a book across the finish line in a weekend for me nowadays, especially when I pick it up from the bookstore on a Friday and have other books going, but this was a breeze. Big recommend to any of the Lovers™️ out there and am excited to loan my copy to my queer best friend and hear their thoughts!
It takes a lot to get a book across the finish line in a weekend for me nowadays, especially when I pick it up from the bookstore on a Friday and have other books going, but this was a breeze. Big recommend to any of the Lovers™️ out there and am excited to loan my copy to my queer best friend and hear their thoughts!
February 10, 2026
My favorite aspect of GIRLFRIENDING is just a superbly written immersive story of finding identity and relationships that matter, even in the ones that end. I relate so much to the happenstance of new love and the different story each relationship tells and teaches. Susanna Daniel’s talent as a writer easily helped me overcome any inherent biases I might have about reading a gender fluid novel. Love was truly LOVE. The main character is tender, funny, raging, heartbroken, resilient and all the feels. Each and every make up and break up is relatable. I recommend GIRLFRIENDING to anyone who seeks a good love story and excellent writing craft.
February 10, 2026
What would it be like to discover that, after a divorce from a man who is the father of my adolescent children, what I really wanted was a lesbian relationship? Now I know, even though the thought never occurred to me. The narrator's exuberance and immersion in her recently discovered lesbian adolescent life straight away swept me off and I read this book in a couple of sittings.
Setting herself the goal of dating ten women to find a lasting relationship, the narrator approaches each date with whole hearted openness, despite (or because of) the deep wound she's carrying from Z, whom she loved, who inexplicably broke up with her. Now the narrator is there for whatever each woman brings her in a way we might all aspire to no matter what our sexual orientation; at least, I aspire to that kind of living. She's also mindful of her own reactions and feelings (which sometimes have to be carefully unearthed) and tries to honor them, all the while filtering out residue from feelings for Z. She's also grateful for how much her world expands because of the endeavor.
She examines her experiences with the help of her long time nonromantic girlfriends, particularly Amanda. Amanda has her own very imperfect marriage to contend with, a situation that brings out strong opinions from the narrator, which she diplomatically tries to alternately contain or convey, depending on what Amanda needs. They talk about almost everything, and enviably spend a lot of time together doing outdoor things, like making their way across the frozen lake or walking their dogs.
Setting herself the goal of dating ten women to find a lasting relationship, the narrator approaches each date with whole hearted openness, despite (or because of) the deep wound she's carrying from Z, whom she loved, who inexplicably broke up with her. Now the narrator is there for whatever each woman brings her in a way we might all aspire to no matter what our sexual orientation; at least, I aspire to that kind of living. She's also mindful of her own reactions and feelings (which sometimes have to be carefully unearthed) and tries to honor them, all the while filtering out residue from feelings for Z. She's also grateful for how much her world expands because of the endeavor.
She examines her experiences with the help of her long time nonromantic girlfriends, particularly Amanda. Amanda has her own very imperfect marriage to contend with, a situation that brings out strong opinions from the narrator, which she diplomatically tries to alternately contain or convey, depending on what Amanda needs. They talk about almost everything, and enviably spend a lot of time together doing outdoor things, like making their way across the frozen lake or walking their dogs.
February 10, 2026
This book spoke to my heart: of friendship and love, of partnering and parenting, and of finding new, energizing paths at the end of well-trodden ones. A forty-something woman goes on ten first dates after the end of her marriage to a man and after a painful ghosting from the first woman she loved, all while processing the death of a parent and the imminent cross-country relocation of a lifelong friend. During her "lesbian adolescence" of dating new people, she meets a few downright "nos," several solid "maybes," and quite possibly a real "yes." As she explores friendships, girlfriendships, and girl friendships, Daniel tells tender truths about the connections we have with others.
February 16, 2026
Disclaimer: I’m one of the 10 dates… I love this book! It is hard to put down and I devoured it in just a day, but not because it doesn’t have substance. There’s so much good stuff packed into this. It is somehow both authentic to my own experience and experiencing someone else’s adventure. It is sweet, funny, and warm. It captures so many types of relationships and so many of the parts of those relationships from first dates to heartbreaking and friendships and family - and doesn’t feel crowded. Overall, I left this book feeling joy, anticipation, and optimism for how we can all find love and friendship - and not just because I’m one of the dates from the book. ;)
February 18, 2026
Utterly well-written, overflowing with intense relatable feelings. Very Curtis Sittenfeldesque; in my book, a good thing.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews