Melissa Gould & Zibby Owens, Widow-ish & Moms Don't Have Time to Have Kids

Melissa Gould | ABOUT THE BOOK:

When Melissa Gould's husband, Joel, was unexpectedly hospitalized, she could not imagine how her life was about to change. Overwhelmed as his condition tragically worsened, she had to believe that while Joel’s loss was permanent, so was their love.

Left to raise their young daughter on her own, and to act as if she could resume life without her beloved husband by her side, Melissa found that she didn’t fit the typical idea of widowhood or meet the expectations of mourning. She didn’t look like a widow or act like a widow, but she felt like one. Melissa was widowish. Melissa’s personal journey through grief and beyond includes unlikely inspiration from an evangelical preacher, the calming presence of some Real Housewives, and the unexpected attention of a charismatic musician.

A modern take on loss, Widowish illuminates the twists of fate that break our world, the determination that keeps us moving forward, and the surprises in life we never see coming.

Zibby Owens | ABOUT THE BOOK:

Zibby Owens, host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and a mother of four herself, created an online magazine in 2020 called We Found Time to help those struggling and stuck at home. Authors from all walks of life contributed to the themes of eating, reading, working out, breathing, and having sex, and the magazine eventually evolved into Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology.

But Zibby recognized that there are so many more things that moms don’t have time do, which are now included in Moms REALLY Don’t Have Time To: Another Author Anthology. Zibby has curated five new categories of things moms don’t have time to do: sleep, get sick, write, lose weight, and see friends.

Essayists include: Aimee Agresti, Esther Amini, Chandler Baker, Adrienne Bankert, Andrea Buchanan, Terri Cheney, Jeanine Cummins, Stephanie Danler, KJ Dell'Antonia, Lydia Fenet, Michael Frank, Elyssa Friedland, Melissa Gould, Nicola Harrison, Vashti Harrison, Kristy Harvey, Sophie Heawood, Joanna Hershon, Angela Himsel, Richie Jackson, Shelli Johannes, Lily King, Jean Kwok, Heather Land, Brooke Adams Law, Caroline Leavitt, Jenny Lee, Shannon Lee, Elizabeth Lesser, Gigi Levangie, Emily Liebert, Lynda Loigman, Abby Maslin, Sarah McColl, Jeanne McCulloch, Raakhee Mirchandani, Arden Myrin, Carla Naumburg, Rex Ogle, Camille Pagan, Elizabeth Passarella, Allison Pataki, Lindsay Powers, Susie Schnall, Sue Shapiro, Claire Bidwell Smith, Rebecca Soffer, Rev. Lydia Sohn, Laura Tremaine, Cecily Von Ziegesar, and Laura Zigman.

Host or Publisher Gordon Jewish Community Center