By Lolly Winston
Warner Books
Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio CD (Unabridged), Audio CD (Abridged) and Large Print Editions

Lolly Winston's debut novel is a beautifully written story about a woman named Sophie who loses her husband to cancer and her battle to go on alone.

Good Grief Excerpt I am thirty-six years old and my husband died nine months ago and here I am getting ready for a date to go bowling with a too handsome actor who must have some sort of dark, psycho-killer secret because everyone knows all the nice, smart, normal men are married. Only the trolls are left. In the past hour I've changed from corduroys to jeans to a skirt. How could I have managed to lose my husband, my job, my house, and my ass all in one year? ©2004 Lolly Winston Published with permission from Warner Books

Sophie suffers through denial, depression and the long process of healing after her loss. Readers will be hooked immediately as Sophie leaves her house and her job in Silicon Valley to move to Oregon to start anew. Sophie signs up to be a "Big Sister" to a troubled teen, Crystal. Their gradual bond and heartwarming friendship encourages both of them to heal as they find comfort in each others company. Together they rediscover the world around them. The world they both feel has let them down.

Sophie's grief counseling group is full of quirky characters. Her shrink tries to help her by assigning various "healing exercises" and drugs. Her "little sister" is a pyromaniac but the possibility of having her house burn down is the least of Sophie's worries. Crystal has many problems that Sophie is desperate to help with. Sophie is determined to get her life and Crystal's back on track. Readers will cheer as Sophie picks herself up, dusts herself off and heads out into the world at full force to find a new job, regain her sense of self and dip a toe into the dating pool.

Bookworm's Briefing
Lolly Winston has written for Redbook, Family Circle and Working Mother, among many other publications. She resides in California with her husband.