I can see why this book would resonate with women who have gone through (or are contemplating) the experience the protagonist of this tale undergoes: the pain of the break-up of a marriage; the attempt to rebuild a shattered self-image while protecting and supporting her child; the tentative (and intially unsuccessful) attempts to gain a social life; the discomfort of seeing her husband living with another woman; the succession of unusual housemates; the growth and eventual triumph of a woman learning independence and self reliance; and the denouement, when she has attained the strength to reject her (ex) husband's suggestion that they get back together..

The characters seem real, the events true to life, and the experience of reading it is no doubt cathartic to women readers. However, while I recognize the book's merits, as a male I couldn't identify with the protagonist (in fact I sometimes wondered what the husband's side of the story was!). I'm glad so many readers have enjoyed the book, but I can't name it among my favorites, mainly for reasons of gender. C'est la vie. ( )

I liked it. I felt brave for picking it up, bringing it home, because my husband had just told me he wanted a divorce, and the central character of the book is going through a similarly served entree, and I just felt like I wanted to see what it would be like when someone you really love leaves you. Live it vicariously, see if I was brave enough. Because I was seriously considering jumping off a bridge, and I wanted to see how someone might go through it and actually come out on the other side.Mind you, if hubby hadn't said it, I probably would not have picked up this book. But he did, and I felt woefully unarmed, unable, unwilling to go through all that. So I read the book.I loved the characters, with all their flaws that are not too cliche, too predictable. I love that she made some difficult decisions, fell flat on her face, picked herself up again, tried harder.I love that the person she falls in love with about 3/4 of the way through this book is not perfect.I love that she refuses to be alone as much as possible, by renting her home to a wonderful diversity of human beings, and that when she must be alone, she cries and lives through it. I needed that grounding, that soulful peace.This book is probably not for everyone. This weekend, my husband said he was sorry, that he took it back - and it wasn't too late; I only lived for five days with this grief and worry.Long enough to read this book, and to know that it is not a human failing to want more. And that life is a river, that we all want the same things: to be wanted, to reflect on things and find understanding in another person. ( )

I liked it. I felt brave for picking it up, bringing it home, because my husband had just told me he wanted a divorce, and the central character of the book is going through a similarly served entree, and I just felt like I wanted to see what it would be like when someone you really love leaves you. Live it vicariously, see if I was brave enough. Because I was seriously considering jumping off a bridge, and I wanted to see how someone might go through it and actually come out on the other side.Mind you, if hubby hadn't said it, I probably would not have picked up this book. But he did, and I felt woefully unarmed, unable, unwilling to go through all that. So I read the book.I loved the characters, with all their flaws that are not too cliche, too predictable. I love that she made some difficult decisions, fell flat on her face, picked herself up again, tried harder.I love that the person she falls in love with about 3/4 of the way through this book is not perfect.I love that she refuses to be alone as much as possible, by renting her home to a wonderful diversity of human beings, and that when she must be alone, she cries and lives through it. I needed that grounding, that soulful peace.This book is probably not for everyone. This weekend, my husband said he was sorry, that he took it back - and it wasn't too late; I only lived for five days with this grief and worry.Long enough to read this book, and to know that it is not a human failing to want more. And that life is a river, that we all want the same things: to be wanted, to reflect on things and find understanding in another person. ( )

Such real, memorable characters. I really feel like I got to know the people in this short book about a woman's life post-divorce. ( )

While Samantha seems a little like a doormat (who would let their departing husband silence any discussion??) I like the way she slowly but surely begins to own herself - to make decisions based on what she wants - to admit to herself her likes and dislikes. I also liked it that she didn't hurt her child in the process. Sometimes in dealing with our own hurts, we forget about the little people we are responsible for, and I was glad that Sam didn't do that. A very affirming story. ( )