This memoir grabs your heart from the first page, squeezes, and doesn't let go until the last sentence. Streeter has this way of speaking to her audience like she's your closest confidant, and I immediately felt like I had known her for years. The sudden loss of her husband, the story of how they met later in life, and the adoption of their son, was told in a way that was both emotionally gripping and laugh-out-loud funny.

The Author is introduced as an entertainment columnist, and a guest speaker for crowds of 500,000 people, speaking about issues of widows and widowers. In this book she shares an experience of grief, love, and a life that is cut off to soon. It may be difficult to think that such a plot could be entertaining, but Streeter has a way of telling the story of death in a way that can have the reader crying or laughing. The couple were in the process of adopting a toddler when the husband died unexpectedly and suddenly. Adoption is difficult at best, but trying to go through the system from a couple to a single parent is unimaginable. By including a situation this difficult, the author portrays how hard death can impact the one left behind. Their interracial marriage, with the Husband a Jew and the Wife a Black Baptist had it's challenges, but nothing like becoming a widow at thirty something. The author goes through the stages of grief and manages to provide hope and how to find strength in family and friends.

From the second that I read the synopsis, I knew that this book was going to be something special. Leslie Gray Streeter tells the story of how she lost the love of her life in such a way that you can't help but feel like you knew him too. Tackling a topic as difficult as death can be challenging, but something about the way that Streeter brings the reader in with her vulnerability, sass, and quite frankly humor is something to behold.

My heart goes out to anyone who has found themselves in what Streeter are calls the worst club ever - The Widows Club. Streeter tells a beautiful story of her journey through tragedy with the support of her tribe and while she found herself in a gut-wrenching situation, there does appear to be a bright, warm light at the end of the tunnel.

The title reeled me in, the open, at times humorous story of grief kept me reading. If I was looking for a book for a friend whose husband had died, this is it. It was so much more uplifting that Joyce Carol Oates _A Widow's Story_. That book haunts me. Black Widow empowers me.

Black Widow by Leslie Gray Streeter is a beautiful book about grief, love, and self-acceptance. The author's charming sense of humor brings levity to an otherwise dark and painful subject. The heart of the book lies within the community that support the author after the unexpected loss of her husband and through the adoption of her son. This book warmed my heard and brought me hope. A must read.

Black Widow by Leslie Gray Streeter and I absolutely love it. In this memoir, Streeter, honors her husband, Scott, who died of a heart attack at the age of 44. Now with her husband gone, Streeter must pick up the pieces and raise their two year, adopted son, alone. Although this journey wasn’t easy, Streeter never gave in to self-pity. ⁣
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If you’re looking for a good cry, I mean a really good, it’s ok to laugh and cry in the mist of your grief book, then I highly recommend this one. ⁣
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Thank you, Little Brown, for gifting me this copy.
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Columnist Leslie Gray Streeter found love in her late thirties. She is Christian and black; Scott was Jewish and white. They fell in love, moved in together, got married and started the process of adopting Brooks, a lovely baby boy. Out of nowhere, Scott had a fatal heart attack at the young age of 44. Life flipped upside down!

My heart goes out to anyone who lost a spouse. I cannot imagine having your soulmate taken unexpectedly. Instead of letting grief take over, Leslie took a different approach to widowhood. From planning a Jewish funeral while being a black Baptist to adopting a son alone and finding hope. This nonfiction book is the story of dealing with loss and celebrating life.

I give a lot of credit to James Patterson. He is one of my favorite authors. So when he offers a blurb, I believe it. According to Patterson, Black Widow is a portrait of widowhood that "will make you laugh and cry, sometimes on the same page." And by gosh, he was right! Leslie Gray Streeter writes about losing her husband in a very candid funny way. It is sad but also really, really funny. Black Widow is the literary example of laugh so you won't cry.

Leslie Gray Streeter talks about her unexpected widowhood like readers are a best friend. She gives it to us straight and holds no thought back. From the first page, it is a no judgment, sympathetic zone. I wanted to reach through the pages to hug her and Brooks but also share a chuckle. It takes a strong brave woman to put her honest feelings to paper. I am not a widow, yet I still found Black Widow to be helpful. I guarantee it is like no other widowhood journey book; hence, I will recommend to any widow I come across because it is that damn good!

Happy Pub Day, Leslie Gray Streeter! Black Widow is now available.

LiteraryMarie

Palm Beach Post columnist Leslie Gray Streeter entered her late thirties with her husband Scott, moving in together and starting the process of adopting a baby. Yes, she is Christian and a black woman and he is neither. He is a white Jewish man. But together they are perfect for each other. 

And just like that, they were making out and he died. Right there. And this is the story of her path and how she traveled it. I loved this book. I am this book. My husband died the same way at 36. There should be a period of a week at least before you have to start making decisions that are probably all bad. I laughed, I cried, I understood. Someone said you never understand death until it knocks at your door. So true. Thank goodness for friends who will not let you wallow in quicksand, but show up and care and drag you back from the edge and tell you that you aren't crazy and it's okay to laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time.

I am honored to have read this!

NetGalley/ March 10th, 2020 by Little, Brown, and Company

Read if you: Want a heartbreaking but at times, painfully funny, and honest account of unexpected widowhood.

Leslie Gray Streeter and her husband, Scott, were happily anticipating the formal adoption of their toddler son before the unthinkable happened--Scott suddenly died. Overnight, her world changed forever. Navigating the surreal days of planning his funeral, dealing with massive amounts of attention from loved ones, fearing that this might affect the adoption, going back to work, and trying to explain Scott's absence to their son is all brilliantly and movingly conveyed. Streeter also includes their sweet and beautiful courtship and marriage; as Leslie is African-American and Christian, and Scott was Caucasian and Jewish, this made for some significant differences that were happily bridged by both families. This will definitely tear your heart out, but will also make you crack up at times.

Librarians and booksellers--as most books about widowhood are written with older women in mind/by older women (and usually by Caucasian women)--you should definitely buy this for your customers who may be younger widows, African-American, or women who were unexpectedly widowed.


Many thanks to Little, Brown & Co and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.