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melannrosenthal 's review for:
Separation Anxiety
by Laura Zigman
This was such a weird delight! It had everything I didn't get from [b:Radiant Shimmering Light|36711318|Radiant Shimmering Light|Sarah Selecky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1536834848l/36711318._SY75_.jpg|58508067] and [b:Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine|31434883|Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine|Gail Honeyman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564647507l/31434883._SY75_.jpg|47327681] though the theme here had elements of both. The narrator, Judy, as the title implies, is dealing with the awkward separation from her husband while also having a hard time spending time away from their dog, Charlotte—which she takes to wearing on her person in a sling typically meant for a baby. She and her husband can't afford to actually separate legally or physically so Gary has taken to sleeping in the "snore room" (the basement). They're trying to keep up appearances for their son Teddy even though Gary's crippling anxiety and reliance on pot are both hard to hide.
So in the meantime, they each are working part-time jobs just to keep themselves afloat. Though once a successful children's book author, Judy has severe writer's block which set in after her last couple of books flopped. She's known for writing about the bird on your head because when communicating with her late mother, Judy often felt like she was looking at her daughter as if there were a bird on Judy's head. It was a huge success, developed into a tv show, and praised as a manifesto for the honest oddness living in many of us. And yet, Judy now finds herself as a middleaged woman, invisible to many until she blurts out the wrong thing and receives a grimace or a glare reminiscent of that which always made her think there's a bird on her head.
In a desperate move to keep Teddy in his private school, Judy agrees to house the visiting artists, People Puppets, in order to have their next month's tuition fee waived. This means that she and Gary will have to share a bed again, and might even have to talk about the state of their marriage. They go a few times a year to couples' counseling, but as is their way, they often get fed up with the process and leave early. Judy won't have sex with Gary and she accepts her accidental celibacy even as Gary refuses to just give up on them. The cherry on top of her increasingly stressful & miserable life is that her only longtime friend and editor Glenn is dying, and soon. Amidst everything, she spends $900 she doesn't have on a weekend retreat held by an influential social media creative guru with the hope that the workshops will force her to get back to writing. After months of wearing the dog everywhere, she leaves Charlotte and Teddy at home with the People Puppets, and she and Gary drive into what is sure to be an interesting time away.
Over and over Judy proves how easy it is to say the wrong thing, alienating herself from her family and strangers alike. It's a pleasure to follow her not just because of how awkward she is but how relatable it is to have so much going on and willingly ignoring it all in order to spend time alone with her dog hoping her insecurities will soon fall away and she can once again be seen for the successful woman she once was. It's laughable and cringeworthy and perfect.
So in the meantime, they each are working part-time jobs just to keep themselves afloat. Though once a successful children's book author, Judy has severe writer's block which set in after her last couple of books flopped. She's known for writing about the bird on your head because when communicating with her late mother, Judy often felt like she was looking at her daughter as if there were a bird on Judy's head. It was a huge success, developed into a tv show, and praised as a manifesto for the honest oddness living in many of us. And yet, Judy now finds herself as a middleaged woman, invisible to many until she blurts out the wrong thing and receives a grimace or a glare reminiscent of that which always made her think there's a bird on her head.
In a desperate move to keep Teddy in his private school, Judy agrees to house the visiting artists, People Puppets, in order to have their next month's tuition fee waived. This means that she and Gary will have to share a bed again, and might even have to talk about the state of their marriage. They go a few times a year to couples' counseling, but as is their way, they often get fed up with the process and leave early. Judy won't have sex with Gary and she accepts her accidental celibacy even as Gary refuses to just give up on them. The cherry on top of her increasingly stressful & miserable life is that her only longtime friend and editor Glenn is dying, and soon. Amidst everything, she spends $900 she doesn't have on a weekend retreat held by an influential social media creative guru with the hope that the workshops will force her to get back to writing. After months of wearing the dog everywhere, she leaves Charlotte and Teddy at home with the People Puppets, and she and Gary drive into what is sure to be an interesting time away.
Over and over Judy proves how easy it is to say the wrong thing, alienating herself from her family and strangers alike. It's a pleasure to follow her not just because of how awkward she is but how relatable it is to have so much going on and willingly ignoring it all in order to spend time alone with her dog hoping her insecurities will soon fall away and she can once again be seen for the successful woman she once was. It's laughable and cringeworthy and perfect.