Saturday Night Widows

Finished February 10
Saturday Night Widows: the Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives by Becky Aikman

The book chronicles a year in the lives of six women, all widows, none of whom knew each other before their first meeting. Becky had tried to go to a widows support group a few months after her husband passed away from cancer, but was asked not to return. She thought their had to be a better way than the short experience she had there of focusing on one's grief, and began research on this type of loss.
She participated in a psychological study, and discussed current research with a couple of psychologists doing research in the area of grief. And she got the idea to find other women who had been widowed relatively young and get together once a month to support each other in moving forward with their lives. The women all live in or near New York City, and have been widowed for between 5 months and 5 years at their first meeting. They range in age from their 30s to their 50s, and some have children and some don't. I would describe them as middle to upper middle class, and well-educated. Becky herself is already remarried by the time of their first meeting.
As she chronicles their growing friendship, the strong bond that grows between them, and their lives moving forward, we see that the women take the positive outlook, and while they will never stop loving their husbands, they do move forward with their lives and gain new experiences, and enter new relationships.
This is an interesting and uplifting book that begins with loss, but ends with optimism for the future.