Author: Laura Zigman
Genre: General Fiction
Publisher: Ecco
Publication Date: March 3, 2020
Book Description: From bestselling author Laura Zigman, a hilarious novel about a wife and mother whose life is unraveling and the well-intentioned but increasingly disastrous steps she takes to course-correct her relationships, her career, and her belief in herself
Judy never intended to start wearing the dog. But when she stumbled across her son Teddy’s old baby sling during a halfhearted basement cleaning, something in her snapped. So: the dog went into the sling, Judy felt connected to another living being, and she’s repeated the process every day since.
Life hasn’t gone according to Judy’s plan. Her career as a children’s book author offered a glimpse of success before taking an embarrassing nose dive. Teddy, now a teenager, treats her with some combination of mortification and indifference. Her best friend is dying. And her husband, Gary, has become a pot-addled professional “snackologist” who she can’t afford to divorce. On top of it all, she has a painfully ironic job writing articles for a self-help website—a poor fit for someone seemingly incapable of helping herself.
Wickedly funny and surprisingly tender, Separation Anxiety offers a frank portrait of middle-aged limbo, examining the ebb and flow of life’s most important relationships. Tapping into the insecurities and anxieties that most of us keep under wraps, and with a voice that is at once gleefully irreverent and genuinely touching, Laura Zigman has crafted a new classic for anyone taking fumbling steps toward happiness.
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: This is first book I read by Laura Zigman, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. When I saw this cover, I did think this would be more humorous, but this was definitely a much more serious novel then expected.
Judy is fifty, a children’s book writer who hasn’t come up with a good idea in years, separated from her husband (but they still live together) and a mother. When the book start starts she is cleaning out her basement when she finds an old baby sling, and this sets up her carrying her dog in that sling for the remainder of this book.
While a lot of the supporting characters brought in that humorous element to this book, Judy’s character is quite serious. She is having her mid-life crisis. Every decision seems critical for her, and potentially will be life changing.
I so loved this book and how Zigman portrayed your typical American mom. She wants to do right, but it just seems it just doesn’t ever happen. She feels very relatable, even with the dog strapped to her all the time. She is a woman who is just trying to get through the day, provide for her family, and also have the love from that family she provides for.
This was a surprising read, which I believe will make great book club discussions, with a few added laughs. I highly recommend this one.
Thank you NetGalley and Ecco for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 