Cioccolata per due

by Lolly Winston, Marta Salaroli (Translator)

Sophie ha trentasei anni e in pochi mesi ha perso tutto: il marito, la felicità e il peso forma, cancellato da interi barattoli di gelato ingurgitati nel cuore della notte. Quando anche il lavoro e la stabilità economica la abbandonano, sola e con un disperato desiderio di ricominciare a vivere, decide di accettare l'invito di un'amica a trasferirsi nell'Oregon e trova lavoro come cameriera in un bistrò. Ma la vita non è una favola e Sophie è costretta a smettere i panni della vedova affranta per adottare quelli della neo-single in lotta con uomini inetti e clienti incontentabili. Solo l'amicizia con Crystal, una tredicenne un po' psicotica, la relazione con Drew e la scoperta che l'amore per il cibo - oltre a far ingrassare - può anche diventare una fonte di reddito, riusciranno a restituirle la felicità. Amore, lacrime, dolcezza e una giusta dose di ironia: gli ingredienti essenziali per un romanzo indimenticabile.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Book Club, Romance, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Grief

395 pages, Paperback

First published April 13, 2004

About the author

Born and raised in the glamorous insurance capital of Hartford, Conn., Lolly Winston holds an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College, where she wrote a collection of short stories as her thesis.

Her first novel, Good Grief, published in 2004, was a New York Times best-seller, a #1 Book Sense pick, and was translated into 15 languages. The film rights have been optioned by Universal Studios. Her second novel, Happiness Sold Separately, also hit the New York Times best seller list upon its publication in August 2006. Her short stories have appeared in The Sun, The Southeast Review, The Third Berkshire Anthology, Girls' Night Out and others. She's contributed essays to the anthologies Kiss Tomorrow Hello (Doubleday, 2006), and the forthcoming book Bad Girls.

Over the years, Lolly has floundered at a number of English major jobs, including: waitress (cork in your wine, anyone?), house cleaner, corporate copywriter, and corporate public relations manager. She's not proud of the fact that she flunked the math on the Kelly Girl test.

In the early eighties she went to Hawaii for eight days and stayed for eight years, boogie boarding and working as the public affairs officer at a local trauma hospital. She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1993, where she finally quit the corporate world to become a freelance journalist, starting out as a stringer for Automotive News. She went on to write for the San Jose Mercury News Sunday magazine, New Woman, Redbook, Glamour, Family Circle, Working Mother, Sunset, Lifetime and others. She teaches writing classes in fiction, feature stories and the art of the personal essay.

A groupie at heart, her favorite authors include: Flannery O'Connor, Vladimir Nabokov, Tom Perrotta, Nick Hornby, Kate Atkinson, Walker Percy, Jeffrey Eugenides, Andrew Sean Greer, Mary Karr, George Saunders, Aimee Bender, Jane Austen, Dave Barry, David Sedaris, Andre Dubus III, Sylvia Plath, Raymond Carver, Ethan Canin, ZZ Packer, Jennifer Haigh, Edith Wharton, Jonathan Tropper, Amy Bloom, Christie Hodgen, Ellen Sussman, Jonathan Lethem, J.D. Salinger, Tobias Wolff, and Donald Barthelme.

She lives with her husband in Northern California.

Reviews

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this about a month after my husband died, and I remember thinking at the time how amazing it was that someone absolutely GOT so many of the crazy things that were going through my head. Some of the descriptions of grief and the crazy things you think, feel, and do are absolutely spot on...but after about halfway through the book it just traipses off into la-la, fantasy land. At 2 years now after my husband died, and having met a great number of young widows in those two years, it's absolutely idiotic that the protagonist would be doing so cluelessly well within a year of her husband's death. And I found the ending offensive, especially as a widow. For trying to describe grief and all its insanity, the author does an amazing job, but it's obvious that she is NOT a widow and is simply imagining what a "happy" ending might be like. So I give it 4 stars for its description of grief, the author's voice, and the narrative flow...but I give it about a 2 out of 5 for being an inaccurate depiction of widowhood. To anyone who's experienced widowhood at an early age, it's ludicrous and offensive to suggest that grieving is over within a year or that finding another man constitutes a happy ending, and books like this only help to reinforce that misconception. But...that being said, I loved the book, up to a point.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am filled up with so much love for this book. I wonder if it's visible, like a big red cartoon heart over my head?

It may be a case of the right book, at the right time.

What an honest, raw depiction of an all encompassing loss. The ending was sort of sudden, but it's okay. I loved it all the same.

[Rhonda Rae Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! At first, I wasn't sure if I should even buy it because of the expected start of the protagonist dying...as if some karmic cycle would point that fate into my pathe. But because of the topic of grief, I thought to give it a try.

Yes, yes, and yes. I totally related to this story...the phases of grief and loss...what a person does and doesn't do can be actually extremely hilarious.

I LOL, I cried, I shouted, I rooted and cheared, I became involved with these characters as if they could be part of my family.

Having lost my brother, I became an only child. After losing my parents just a short five years later, I became a zombie trying to raise my children...ugh! But when it comes to moving forward and processing the stages of grief, this author hits the nail on the head.

Relating to the loss of spouse was also easy for me to relate to as it was like a death in the family even though he is very much alive. I was the one that died and part of my children's hearts died as well when we were divorced. As we struggle this day to put our lives back together, I related to the teenager in this story and how she was 'cutting' to 'feel' something because her mother had abused her by neglect.

There were so many levels of seriousness in this story but with the way it was told gave such reality to the process of change in each of our lives. I'm reminded of the book I read recently, called Loving What Is. We can't change what has happened to us, we can't change our current situations, and we can't predict what our future holds, but we can learn from what life deals us and we can find a purpose in life and what adventures there are in store for us. We can learn to 'let go' and trust the future, Come What May. It's like if we have one hand in yesterday and one in tomorrow then our today is crucified.

I enjoyed the way this author could make me laugh at myself as I related to the protagonist grief process and even how she interwove the other character's 'changes' in life. There was so much here that I felt healing coming into my spirit...as if this were a self-help book, I was encouraged to remain strong and courageous.

Not willing to fear the future and cast a cloud on today, my life has become an adventure full of surprises. I'll not fear what tomorrow will hold for me as if I'm predestined to have grief in my live forever but feel a freedom to savor each moment as if it were a present!

Way to go Lolly, I'm a fan of yours and this novel was exceptional as well as priceless! I will be reading it again...there is so much here and I feel that you've not only taught me more about the processes we go through when unexpected 'change' comes through our doorstep but you've reminded me that we should all be honest enough to laugh as ourselves and enjoy the discovery of relationships around us.

Not only do I have many 'family' members in my life as this protagonist, I expect there will be more that cross my path who could be just what I need. Everything happens for a reason, but that doesn't mean we will know the reason it happened to us. Bad things happen to good people, it's just the way of life...so we may as well find the blessings in our lives along the way. Even if we are plagued by 'memory loss' and 'sickness' it doesn't mean that we can't enjoy our life the way it is.

Thanks for such a wonderful novel...this story was full of wonderful surprises and I was honored to travel the road with these characters!

[★emerson★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

a story on how to grieve, cope, and move on with loosing a loved one. touching, uplifting, and just genuinely funny. 5 stars

[Abigail Hillinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good Grief was on a bookshelf at my job last winter and I picked it up, read the first few chapters, and loved it. It chronicles Sophie's mental breakdown after she loses her husband to a cancer. Sounds very Lifetime-movie-of-the-week, I admit, but Winston managed to write something serious and make it tender and funny at the same time. I was bummed when the book went missing and kept forgetting to buy my own copy.

I finally read it and I was disappointed. Really disappointed, actually. When Sophie decides to up and leave her town and move across the country with her recently-separated friend, I thought, okay, cool. Kind of a rogue widow. I like. She wants to become a "better" person and becomes a big-sister to a pyromaniac 13-year-old (who is also a cutter). She screws up everything she does at first. Okay. Believable enough. But then the writing style delves into the chick-lit tone and I found myself predicting everything that was about to happen. And I got bored. The ending kind of felt too abrupt, even though I guess you know where it's going. Another minor gripe? The title. It felt too obvious and too goofy. All I could picture was Charlie Brown whenever I heard the title.


BUT...that all being said. Winston does an incredible job telling us what it's like to be a young widower. The little details she puts here and there, the things that a widower won't notice is missing until it happens, are touching. She goes for subtle in those instances rather than the big picture. And she is very, very funny at several parts. The first few chapters were definitely her strongest. I loved all the exchanges/encounters she had with her former boss. I think Winston just doesn't know her style well enough yet. She's great at self-deprecating humor and very intuitive, but she keeps seeming to go toward the genre that's "easy". Hopefully the next book she puts out won't feel like that.

[Tonkica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simpatično napisana teška tema.. Bilo bi super da iz tugovanja svi dobijemo peticu, kao i glavna protagonistica! ;-)

[Cathy Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this paperback not expecting too much more than some light fluff for my vacation. I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be such a good story.

It is about a woman recently widowed and how she copes with her grief and rebuilds her life. I thought the author did a good job showing her grief and how there is humour in the sadness. This author is really funny but real and I enjoyed the story despite the sad subject. I plan on sharing it with a friend who lost her husband at a young age as I think she would get a lot out of it.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read; funny, likable protagonist but the plot is a little too pat. Devastated widow leaves old life behind. Sells house, moves to Oregon, opens a bakery, joins the Big Sister organization and finds that by helping others she helps herself - Amen. P.S. She also immediately finds a handsome, hot, helpful straight guy who wants to marry her. Maybe this should be shelved under fantasy.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sophie Stanton is a widow at age 36. Her husband died of cancer. This book looks at how she moves through the stages of grief.

She tries to go to support groups. She self-medicates with strong prescription drugs with disastrous results. She eats tons of food - pints of ice cream, packages of Oreos - while sitting in bed crying and watching COPS. For weeks on end.

Finally she makes a move across the country in an attempt to jar herself out of this breakdown. Her father and her stepmother take care of her for a while, making sure she showers and eats. She finally gets her own place and starts working as a waitress.

Things go on from there but I'll keep mum because I don't want to give away the whole book.

Sophie takes in a "Little Sister" (a child in need who she sees once a week to talk to and spend time with) named Crystal. She ends up with a 14-year-old who is a self-mutilator and pyromaniac. Sophie is a much better person than I am because she forgives Crystal for setting fires at her house (Sophie's house) not ONCE but TWICE!!!! Ay caray. Anyway, she's always finding Crystal with some gigantic burn on her leg or with bloody arms and has to take her to the hospital. I guess Sophie likes feeling needed, but I would've gone (even more) crazy having to deal with all the crises the girl was creating.

Sophie eventually starts dating and starts her own business and kind of moves on with her life. Of course, the pain of losing her husband never goes away, but she has learned to keep living and manage the pain.

The two parts that made me laugh: When Sophie is working as a waitress and accidently tips some hot shrimp down a woman's blouse.
When Sophie decides that adopting Crystal's "teenage attitude" will actually help Sophie if she uses it in her life. Here's a sample:

"Whatever" is her answer to most questions. She has two ways of saying it. She either exhales a weary "Whatever," as though the thought of doing anything other than preening her split ends is too enervating, or she indignantly snaps, "Whatever," as though the question is a personal attack. I'd like to adopt this approach.
Sophie, your husband died.
"WhatEVER."
And you're fired.
"As if I even LIKED that job."
And you're depleting your savings with no means of income in sight.
"That is SO not a problem. I could, like, TOTALLY get a new job."

[Lois Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an amazingly well-written book for a first novel. I was torn between giving it a 3 or a 4. On the basis of the writing, it deserves a 4. The only reason that I didn't "really, really like it" was because the subject matter, while realistically presented, was so painful. This book is about the first year of a young woman's widowhood, and by necessity the first half is about her agony, grief and depression. In the second half, she starts the healing process and develops ways to cope and move onward with her life, and that part is inspiring.

[Wei Cho · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know that time when you're too young to know better about books? Yes? Well, that happened to me when I was thirteen and my literary tastes had not yet fomented themselves. Mind you, I was already a huge Harry Potter fan. However, my opinionated parents encouraged me to try different types of books. And along came my good-humored neighbor and told my mother to read this book. It was like her salvation. My mother then tossed the book to me and said I should give it a try.

So, I started reading it and couldn't connect. You know, I'm just a thirteen year old whose reading a story about a widow thirty-six year old! First, a twenty age gap isn't going to help our fictional character and teenager relationship bond. Second, I'm not married, even after six years. And sure as hell I wasn't married back then, not even had a boyfriend. But anyway. I try to relate with her depression and lack of wanting anything to do. I felt I was going to go in a coma for her inactivity and lack of coping device since her husband's death. But who am I to judge?

Then came along the fire-maniac thirteen year old girl. She was fascinating, but I didn't connect with her either. Nor with the movie star- then boyfriend.

Well, this book gave me something to understand about myself. Chick-lits are not for me. They bore me to hell. However, I did help my sister craft a book report based on this book and boy I had some strong opinions not apt for a fifth grade book report.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a funny and heartwarming book about a young woman's fight to build a new life after the death of her husband. Sophie Stanton is in her mid thirties and loses her young husband to cancer. In an age where women are expected to be high-achievers, Sophie desperately wants to be a good widow but things don't turn out that way as she is not the sterotypical type. Instead she puts away gallons of ice-cream and has major breakdowns which in turn cause her to lose her job, to say the least. Once she shows up for work in her bathrobe and bunny slippers which is pretty much the end of her job and the rest of what she had from the so to say stable life she had. Desperate to stay above water she decides to take up a friends offer and to move in with her and her daughter in Ashland, Oregon. Instead of the way one would think things turned out, the opposite happens and Sophie ends up learning a lot about life and others to include her lover and a young teenage girl she takes under her arm. This is a heartwarming, tear jerking comedy with a lot of life lessons that catch you by surprise. The characters in this book show that with enought perserverance, humor and an open mind,it is possible to have life after loss. Hard to put down and lots of food for thought.

[Sunshine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a strange experience, a topic that is a total heart-break, why do you find yourself giggling??? Lolly Winston has a wonderful way of developing characters. I was particularly impressed with her ability to write the teenage character Crystal, it seemed spot on accurate and I wonder at how she was able to write her so clearly.

I think the only thing that had me rating this novel with only three stars is the main character's ability to cope with the death of her husband so quickly and neatly. Most people might disagree with this assessment, but I have worked around people that have lost loved ones and they were not as "put together" 10 years later as this character was less than one year later. Granted, the circumstances of death were much different and I wonder if that has something to do with it, but I found a part of me not wanting the happy ending that I got. I guess my personal agenda of wanting society to accept those grieving with more tolerance has jaded my opinion of this book.

[Linda Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a 4 1/2, but then, I could change my mind. I logged in this book a few days before writing this review, and found I missed the characters, their ins and outs, the folks they met along the way so much, I upgraded !

This is a glimpse into grief, and how differently it is handled. The central character, Sophie Stanton, is widowed very young losing her husband to cancer after three years of marriage. The Parts are divided into sub-parts which are the stages of grief and how Sophie deals with these stages. One author-reviewer says : "A lighthearted and amusing novel about loss, grief, and the therapeutic effects of baking. I love Sophie Stanton and I want her recipes !" Audrey Niffenegger

It should become a movie ! But who is cute enough, crazy enough, and compassionate enough to play Sophie ?

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in what basically turned out to be a sick day, lolling on my couch. Normally, books about widowhood make me very nervous, because it is one of my biggest fears to think about life without javaczuk. I often tell him if he dies before me, I'll kill him. I just don't want to contemplate it at all. But at Rebekkila's urging, I read this, and found it to be in the upper end of chick lit, with some believable characters, touching not only on grief, but issues of trust, and some other societal ills, with grace and sensitivity -- an humor. Thank goodness it didn't have the gay best friend, though it did have the life saving bakery come into the story.

All in all, it was a good companion on a rainy spring day.

Gentlemen, start your hairdryers...

[KyneWynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I read this book I found myself alternately giggling or holding back tears, and nodding my head in agreement; uh huh, I've done that myself (wearing Kelly's clothes, being angry because he's not here, wanting to pull the covers over my head, etc.) The story is engaging, the author has a light touch, but it seemed almost too trivial in places,or perhaps contrived would be a better description, like the author is making sure all of the "steps of grieving" are included in the book. I wouldn't go out of my way to read it again, but I could relate to a lot of it, and it was entertaining. If it was a movie, it would most likely be rated PG-13.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a great read. The beginning was really quite funny ~ surprising for such a tough topic. But, I thought an audio book was maybe not the way to go with this one. It seemed to drag once the humor fell away and she got back in to life. But, it was a nice little book.

I LOVED Crystal. I thought she would bug me but no, she became so important. I loved the description of the word "Whatever"!! Too funny.

[Dana Baze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently reading this book. It was given to me right after my husband died and I couldn't bear to open it. I now can't put it down. I can't believe how much of the book feels exactly like me! I would recommend this book to anyone who has lost their husband and to their friends so they can understand what they are going through.

[RockChick40 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was beautifully written. It was funny as well as touching. I felt sad for the character because I have seen first hand someone close to me deal with how hard it is to live after a loved one has passed on. Lovely story. I will be reading more from this author.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, loved this book! Highly recommend it !

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onvan : Good Grief - Nevisande : Lolly Winston - ISBN : 446694843 - ISBN13 : 9780446694841 - Dar 357 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2004

[Kim Kanode · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so slow. The story wasn’t progressing. I couldn’t even finish it I was bored

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't seem to be able to stop talking to people about this book! It was hard to begin it because of Our Stevie but I finished it and am so glad I did. Heartbreaking. Romantic. Funny at time. Seems like real life for some people. Definitely a great book to read!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a widow, some of this resonated with me, but other aspects of the book were so unrealistic.

[Marge Rudman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Tidy Tale of Life's "Untidyness"

In the aftermath of her husband's death from cancer, Sophie first nearly self-destructs then moves to Ashland, OR. Once there coping is made possible through the necessity of making a living and just plain getting on with it. Part of her recovery is facilitated by being helpful to others. The swift and easy romantic involvement wasn't the least bit convincing to me.
Unfortunately (for me) I wasn't able to find as much humor in the story as was perhaps intended. The repetition of the main idea became tedious. Much of the book was easily skimmed over as I raced to the end so I could get on with reading something else.
It was fun for me to visit Ashland in a book as I am there every summer for the play festival.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really should be a 3.5 stars.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for so long, I don’t even remember why I originally purchased it. I admit that one of the reasons I passed over this book so many times is because I figured it would be depressing, all about death/dying, or too much of a chick-lit-book, or maybe just not very interesting. Well, sure, there was a bit about death and dying, but the author finds a realistic way of looking at how people tend to deal with grief over the death of a loved one, even showing the humorous side of some of the things grieving people may find themselves doing. And it definitely was not a chick-lit-book – it was just a story about people and life.

Overall, this was a really well-written story. I thought the characters were interesting and I enjoyed watching the progression in their relationships and the fact that none of the characters or their relationships were perfect, as in real life. By the end of the story, I felt that everything wrapped up the way it should have, and I turned the final page with satisfaction.

The only thing that I was even slightly disappointed in was the fact that the reader never learns what the name of Sophie’s bakery is. I wanted to know if it would have a name that would somehow honor Ethan, or somehow honor Sophie for all of the strides she’d made in her life since Ethan’s death – or neither. I wonder why the author decided to leave the name out of the story?

Regardless, this book was very enjoyable overall. I can’t remember reading anything else by this author, but now that I have, I may have to seek out more.

[David Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up years ago for a dollar and I'm not sure why. I think I just liked the title. I know I hated the cover graphic of a pair of bunny slippers. I didn't expect much from it, it seemed like 'chick lit does widowhood.' But I'm so glad I read it because it was just wonderful.

Sophie Stanton is a 36 year old woman who is widowed after 3 years of marriage. She completely falls apart and the story of her coming apart and subsequent healing is beautifully told. One thing that I loved about her was that she was able to look at herself, even in her moments of near insanity, and laugh. The supporting characters are equally interesting. I'm sure Joan Didion would have a stroke if she saw herself compared to Lolly Winston, but this book reminded me so much of "The Year of Magical Thinking." This is a less literate, less serious, more accessible and, yes, humor filled looked at a woman who has recently been widowed. While Didion's life is marked by her loss of her constant partner of her entire adult life, Sophie Stanton's is marked by the loss of her potential future. Completely different looks at the same premise.

I think the resolution of some of the plots was a bit too facile but I so enjoyed the majority of this book.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given this book only 3 stars if it hadn't made me laugh so much and right out loud. That alone brings it up a star in my opinion.
This is a fun easy read about a woman who had lost her hustand to cancer and follows her through the first 18 months after his death. You get to go through her grief process with her. The story is told with so much insight and humor that you fall in love with Sopie the widow. In her own words, she desperately wants to be a good widow - graceful, composed, Jackie Kennedy kind of widow. Alas, she is more of the Jack Daniels kind - self-medicating with icecream and having break downs at the market. She breaks your heart as you see how she falls apart, but she always tells the story with so much humor that you have to laugh out loud. I could see myself in her shoes throughout the whole book.
The other characters that fill out the book are a wonderful collection of interesting and different people. I cried, cheered and laughed my way through this book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel tells of a widow who struggles to regain some measure of normalcy (with varying degrees of success). I was a little peeved when she would go out to eat at restaurants and attend theatre and then complain about not having enough money, but for the most part, she's a wonderfully human character, struggling through the loss of her husband, her house, her job, and her waistline. If she were a real-life person, I'd want to meet her for coffee. This novel balances the protagonist's hardships with many doses of humor, both wry and slapstick, and it delivers plenty of laughs. Although the book describes situations that are less-than-ideal -- that are tragic in many ways -- the book itself is neither depressing nor despairing. It simply tells the tale of a woman who, like any woman, is just trying to cope, and who finds sorrow, joy, and hilarity along the way.

[Misbah · Rating 1 out of 5]

the first half was intriguing, the author kind of loses her grip during the last half, and the ending was too abrupt. was mildly funny. while reading this i felt like i was looking at the story through a dirty window. the words just didnt form a clear picture of what was going on, i guess maybe this was an attempt to emphasize the characters cloudy mindset, i dont' know for sure.

i would recommend this to readers who want a mediocre book, to get a sense of the difference between great writing and average writing.