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Title: The Young Widower's Handbook
Subtitle: A Novel
Author: Tom McAllister
Narrator: Kevin T. Collins
Format: Unabridged
Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
Language: English
Release date: 02-07-17
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes
Genres: Fiction, Humor
Publisher's Summary:
For Hunter Cady, meeting Kaitlyn is the greatest thing that has ever happened to him. Whereas he had spent most of his days accomplishing very little, now his life has a purpose. Smart, funny, and one of a kind, Kait is somehow charmed by Hunter's awkwardness and droll humor, and her love gives him reason to want to be a better man.
And then, suddenly, Kait is gone, her death as unexpected as the happiness she had brought to Hunter. Numb with grief, he stumbles forward in the only way he knows how: by running away. He heads due west from his Philadelphia home, taking Kait's ashes with him. Kait and Hunter had always meant to travel. Now, with no real plan in mind, Hunter is swept into the adventures of fellow travelers on the road, among them a renegade Renaissance Faire worker; a boisterous yet sympathetic troop of bachelorettes; a Midwest couple and Elvis, their pet parrot; and an older man on an endless cross-country journey in search of a wife who walked out on him many years before. Along the way listeners get glimpses of Hunter and Kait's lovely, flawed, and very real marriage, and the strength Hunter draws from it, even when contemplating a future without it. And each encounter, in its own peculiar way, teaches him what it means to be a husband and what it takes to be a man.
Written in the spirit of Jonathan Tropper and Matthew Quick, with poignant insight and wry humor, The Young Widower's Handbook is a testament to the enduring power of love. Cover design by Jim Tierney. Cover image by Map Resources.
Critic Reviews:
"Funny, sad, and smart... Part wacky road novel, part romantic comedy, McAllister's debut flies along yet reaches deep." (Stewart O'Nan, author of West of Sunset)
Members Reviews:
An Intriguing and Accurate Look at Widowhood
"Your life had been completely built around the idea of being a married man until the day you died, but now that plan is ruined and it's difficult to know how to begin again. You're not even sure exactly who you are anymore; your personality and hers molded themselves to each other over time, subtle alterations, gradual erosion of certain habits, accretion of new beliefs and mannerisms, the accumulation of inside jokes and a shared history." As a widowed person, I was amazed that Tom McAllister so poignantly portrayed not only the pain of losing a spouse but also, in this quote, described so accurately, what it means to be in a true marriage; one in which you become part of that person and your spouse becomes part of you. You literally grow together and when a spouse dies, a part of you has been ripped away.
This book was not a downer but rather a fascinating look at one person's journey through grief. In parts humorous, other parts touchingly sad, it gives the hope that one can traverse this difficult journey, brushed, broken, but able to embrace life once again.
I was positive that the author had indeed lost a wife and this was his personal grief journey but upon reading "A Note From The Author" at the end of the book, I was pleased to hear that actually, he and his wife conceived the idea of the book together and that they are both very much alive. It is my hope that they may continue to enjoy "the best days of our lives" for many, many years to come.
and it was the kind of thing that can make you believe in love.
