Good Grief
Sara Goodman Confino
Pub: 8/26/25
5☆

#gifted @getredpr

Good Grief Sara Goodman Confino you have 💯 done it again. 🤣

All kidding aside, I truly loved this one. There is just something about the way SGC writes, and the characters she creates. I find so much joy in reading her books, and Good Grief was another stunning example. It was a beautiful mix of women’s fiction, historical fiction with a side of sweet romance.

Barbara is a strong and relatable character and I loved her and her story. BUT it’s the feisty, older, characters that always work their way into my heart. Even though I really wanted to dislike her, Ruth stole the show for me and I could not get enough of her meddling MIL antics.

While I love relating to people characters, there is just something so fun and sweet when you can relate to a pet character. Feel free to laugh at me, I know I’m ridiculous. BUT, I have dog named Pepper and as soon as they named the dog I kid you not I totally AWWWWed out loud and then proceeded to smile every single time her name was mentioned.

What I loved;
🧳 Feel-Good Story
🧳 Witty Humor
🧳 Jewish Rep
🧳 Pepper!
🧳 Meddling Ruth

While it’s a book about grief, Sara does a beautiful job balancing the journey of healing with the perfect amount of humor and heart. I loved every minute and absolutely would recommend.

Thank you so much to Get Red PR and Sara Goodman Confino for my gifted copy.

Good Grief follows Barbara working on being independent after her husband passed away a few years ago and her mom moved in to help take care of the household and the kids. Barbara decided it was time for her mom to leave because she knew she could do it on her own. That lasted only for a minute as her late husband’s mother (Ruth) showed up on the doorstep and chaos ensues. Despite the fact this book is about grief, this was such a wholesome book. I loved reading about Ruth’s antics throughout the book. But I definitely would be annoyed if I was Barbara. I also loved reading about their relationship development! Thank you to Get Red PR, NetGalley, and Sara Goodman Confino for this arc!

Barbra is a young widow after her husband Henry passes away from a heart attack. For the next two years her mother stays with her while she grieves and tries to take care of her children. Once she feels ready to do things on her own, she lets her mom knows she is ready to let her leave. Immediately Barbra’s mother-in-law Ruth comes over and says she will be staying for awhile.
Barbra is taken aback but willing to let Ruth stay two weeks and no longer than that.
Ruth is a force to be wrecked with and at times had me very frustrated. But she eventually grows on me.
As a mom, I know firsthand how hard it can be to ask for help. I think this book is a great reminder that even when we feel like it’s the end of the world or that we are all alone, there will be people that will always be there for us, even if we initially don't want them to be.
This book was a great reflection on grief and just a lighthearted fun read. I smiled a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Get Red PR for the arc of Good Grief!

Yet another 5 star read from this author. All of her books are so enjoyable- and yet another one I enjoyed set in the 1960’s. Barbara and her mother-in-law Ruth navigate grief together, while trying to live with each other peacefully. Both women and strong willed and there’s so much humor in the story. The dramatics and things they get themselves into helped the story and were so well written - the frustrations and emotions were palpable. It was also a story of hope and how to move forward. I loved the appearance of Beverly and Stuart from last years book by the author. It was perfect! Can’t wait for this authors next story!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advanced copy of Good Grief.

Sara Confino Goodman has written another amazing novel. Good Grief is a tender, heartfelt exploration of loss, healing, and the unexpected paths to recovery.

The second I saw the name Beverly Diamond I teared up.
Loved how she talked about mental health in the hospital even though it was 1963

Good Grief will be released on August 26, 2025.

I read “Behind Every Good Man” and thoroughly enjoyed it (5 Stars). Thus, I was excited to see a new novel by this talented author and I found it entertaining, but not quite up to my previous experience. There is the trademark smart, witty dialogue, and insightful commentary, in this case tracking the healing process following the death of a loved one.

The year is 1963 and Barbara Feldman, a young widow with two small children, is about to demonstrate her ability to manage her home, family, and career as a single parent. Just as her mother returns to her own home after living with Barbara for the past two years, Barbara’s mother-in-law appears on her doorstep uninvited and proceeds to move in with no exit strategy in sight. Not only is this unexpected guest not wanted, but she is also a thorn in Barbara’s side – criticizing her cooking, her parenting style and even her home décor. What ensues is an emotional journey full of compassion, anger, resignation, acceptance, and love…as each woman begins to appreciate the other and forge a new bond through their shared loss and new possibilities for romance.

As a protagonist, Barbara I easy to relate with and she is surrounded by a strong cast of supportive characters – Eddie, the grocer, Jenn, her best friend, and, of course, Ruth, her mother-in-law. This is an entertaining and enjoyable read that addresses the grieving process with both sensitivity and humor as Barbara faces everyday life.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

Sara Goodman Confino's knocks it out of the water yet again! In Good Grief we meet Barbara; a young widow with two young children, who has decided to stand on her own two feet after using her mom's help for the past two years. After a short lived night with the children in barrels Ruth, her widowed mother-in-law, who has decided she is now moving in to help. Absolute chaos ensues as the two women butt heads at every turn, eventually realizing that they have more in common than they think.

Ruth antics were often over the top and I certainly admired Barbara for the patience I don't possess. There is a lot of hilarity throughout the pages and one thing I love about Confino's writing the most is her use of side characters that elevate and move the story forward without feeling like filler. We see this with Barbara's relationship with her best friend Janet and her brother Eddie. I also enjoyed how Barbara often spoke to her late husband Harry; I imagine that is something I would a lot if I lost my husband too.

Started and finished in a single weekend, it is a page turner at every part and I am already dying for her next release when this one isn't even out yet!

Thank you Lake Union Publishing for the gifted ARC.

Sarah Goodman Confino is definitely becoming one of my favorite authors I found this year.
This book is a beautifully written exploration of grief, love, and resilience, filled with witty and charming moments, and strong female characters who show remarkable grace in the face of adversity, making space for both joy and sorrow. I adore how she incorporates relatable Jewish cultural references, and reunites us with cherished characters from her previous books. The progress made in women's rights serves as a powerful reminder of how far we've come, and how much further we can go in the pursuit of equality even though it doesn’t feel that way in some ways at the moment.

Another beautiful work of fiction by SGC. She really knows how to write rich characters, captivating storylines, and sweet romances. I was lucky enough to get an arc of this one, but I’ve already preordered my own physical copy. Barbara and Ruth have a complicated relationship (what mother and daughter in law don’t?), but the depth and growth of their relationship carries this novel beautifully.

A beautiful story about navigating life after losing a partner and how to move forward. Set in the early 1960s, Barbara has found herself a young widow after losing her husband suddenly 2 years prior. With two elementary school children to look after, Barbara is learning her new normal. Then, her mother in law, Ruth, shows up, with no plans on leaving.

While this story is largely about grief and sadness, there were so many moments of humor and tenderness. I loved watching Barbara and Ruth, both navigating grief, start to rely on each other as time moved forward. Grief can be overwhelming and all consuming, but this story brought to light the brighter moments that we have to try to see through the grief. I loved this story and highly recomend!

Thank you to #NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.

I loved Don't Forget To Write and I couldn't wait to read this one.

Set in 1963, Barbara, who lives in Washington, DC suburbs, was 32 and a widow with two kids Susie 8 and Bobby 6. He hardly remembers his father since he was so young when her husband and their father died of a heart attack 2 years ago just like his father, at a young age.

Her mother has been living with her for these 2 years and finally going back home. Barbara needs to come out of her cocoon of grief after 2 years. She was so young with 2 young kids and in so much grief and pain, she couldn't handle it alone.

One of my favorite lines when her mother was leaving said "all you need to do is say you need me."

Just as they were starting to get used to being a family of 3 and making new memories, but who shows up at their doorstep literally when they were coming home from the zoo but her mother-in-law Ruth, who lives 1/2 hour away and hardly saw them before now. What was humorous was as they were pulling up Bobby thought he saw a package sitting on their porch. It was her mother-in-law of course with 5 suitcases. Huh? She lives 1/2 hour away. LOL and hardly saw them before.

It was going to be a long 2 weeks that's for sure. Now she needs to prove to Ruth that she's independent and can do it alone with her kids. Luckily she works 4 days a week at a hospital helping patients and doing what she can and schedules things. She started when her son started school and she's grateful for it. Now she's worried with Ruth here she'll rearrange her house. She thought there was a ghost in the house years ago but found out from her husband that she used her key to get in the house when no one was there. Well, guess what? And then even more crazier things happen. Let's just say, Ruth invited the single fireman to dinner when her stove blew up thanks to Ruth putting things in the oven when she ran out of room in the cupboard. One item was Jiffy Pop!!

Then Barbara has an idea to get her out of the house when she's working and takes her to the hospital to be a volunteer. There is this patient Mrs. Kline, who everyone hates to deal with her and is a hypochondriac and refuses to see Jewish doctors, and has everything against Jewish people and refuses to eat a bagel, rye bread or anything "Jewish." She gets along swimmingly with her and she puts her into her place and invites her to have lunch with her at a deli. She told her before that just because she was Jewish didn't mean that she nor any Jewish person didn't like Chinese food.

Barbara starts thinking of how she can get "rid" of Ruth and has the brilliant (?) idea of fixing her up with the neighborhood grump Mr. Moskowitz making up a reason why they should go out to dinner. Ruth figures out it wasn't the reason it was. Barbara thinks if they marry she doesn't want her Ruth to live 3 doors away. Then Barbara meets a patient who's sort of Ruth's age (60) who she's thinking of that might work. Well, that backfired when she invited him for dinner for another reason.

Ruth is only 60 but for some reason she comes off an old lady. Maybe because Barbara is so young or maybe, to me, it's the 1960s, and they seemed to be older then.

Then there of course her best friend Janet who's she's been friend with since college, Janet's father Joe Greene, who's had a grocery store since way back (that even Ruth went to at a different location), and Eddie, Janet's brother who's had a crush on Barbara for years but she always thought of him as a brother of course.

I loved the references to the restaurants in D.C. area because even though it was the 60's they were still around when I moved in the area in 1980. The author lives in the area so I can understand the location of the book and the places.

This book is a laugh a minute! I really should have pared this long review down but there are so many good scenes in this book it was hard for me to do so.

Yes, there were some serious moments but most of it was funny.

The epilogue was 1964 and it was exactly how I thought it would be.

This is the second book that I have read by Sara Goodman Confino and once again I really enjoyed her writing, setting and characters.

This book is set in 1963 and Barbara is a widow with two young children. She has been in mourning for two years trying to navigate being a young mother. Her mom has just left from assisting and Barbara is looking forward to finding herself and navigating a life without her husband when her mother in law (unannounced) decides to visit.

This book delves into some topics but also gives a sense of how that time period was for women (especially working women) and different dynamics. I also enjoyed the brief cameo from characters from the previous book. The author's note on a character made me now want to go and read another one of the books that she has written.

Thank you Lake Union and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the advanced reader copy!

This book truly captured my heart in the most unexpected way. It’s a heartfelt exploration of what it means to rebuild when life upends your world, all while keeping a smile on your face. This novel reminded me why I treasure stories about family, resilience, and unexpected friendships. I found myself rooting for both Barbara and Ruth, feeling their growth deeply, and coming away with a warm, full heart.

This was just the most delightful story! Barbara lost her husband two years ago. She is raising two young children so her mother came and stayed with her for two years to help her with the children. After two years Barbara was more able to cope so her mother went home. Just a couple of days later her mother-in-law, Ruth, appeared with five suitcases! Here the hilarity begins! She tries to redecorate the house, starts a fire in the kitchen, cooks horribly but the children adore her. So Barbara tries to set her up for dates then realises Ruth is doing the same to her! So funny!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my first book by this author and I’m sad to report I didn’t love it . I couldn’t connect to the story or characters and unfortunately I ended up DNFing

As usual, Sara Goodman Confino knocked it out of the park with well-fleshed out and lovable characters and a can’t-put-down novel. Perfect for the beach this summer!

A story about two growing widows in the 1960s. Sounds depressing? No! This brilliant book was an absolutely joy!

There are, of course, sad themes running throughout, but Sara Goodman Confino’s immersive writing, incredible characters and laugh-out-loud humour is just spot on!

Barbara and her mother-in-law, Ruth, are the main characters, both strong women who couldn’t be more different in their approach to life and running a family home. As they continually butt heads, Barbara realises that the only way she will get rid of Ruth is to marry her off to someone. But who will want a cantankerous old woman like Ruth?

It’s impossible not to feel like you’re there, right in the heart of the story and the characters become to feel like friends. Fabulous!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Sara Goodman Confino and Lake Union for an ARC of this book.

What I thought would be book that was more sad, it was definitely not! Don't get me wrong...the premise of being a widow with small children is sad, but this book didn't focus on that. This book focused on the mayhem the narrator's mother-in- law created when she moved in unannounced...and it was so funny. I loved the characters, the plot, the humor, and I loved how we found more out about the mother-in-law's background, which I think plays a big part in how she is/was. I loved Barbara and her outlook on life...and how she took a sad situation and tried to make it more positive. I adored Eddie and his presence in this book. Inloved watching the relationship between Barbra and her mother-in-law change and deepen as the story unfolded. I grew to love these characters and I was so so happy with the ending. I rated this a 4 star book on my Goodreads and will be buying a physical copy of this book to re-read. I will also be recommending to my reader friends on my other socials.

Thank you GetRedPR, Lake Union Publishing, and Sara Goodman Confino for my #gifted copy of Good Grief! #GoodGrief #saragoodmanconfino #getredprbooks #GetRedPR #GetRedPRBookclub #amazonpublishing #lakeunionpublishing #lakeunionauthors

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐨
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

𝟱★

The second this book arrived, I dropped everything and started reading it. There’s something about Sara Goodman Confino and the characters she creates that instantly draws me to her books. I’ve loved all of her past books, but I knew when I read the description for this one, I was going to have a special connection to this book and the grief aspect. Confino did such an amazing job combining humor and heart to create such a funny yet hopeful book. 20+ years from now when you ask me who my favorite author is, Confino will continue to top my list because of books like this one!

After her husband died two years ago, Barbara has been raising her two children with her help of her mother who has just left to return to her own life. On her own for the first time since Harry’s death, Barbara is finally ready to face her new normal. But then Ruth, her mother-in-law, shows up unannounced with a lot of suitcases. Ruth is also a widow and is grieving the loss of her son and now wants to help Barbara with the children. How can she say no to that? Instead, Barbara comes up with a plan to try to marry her off, but it doesn’t take long to realize that Ruth is trying to do the same thing for Barbara.

I loved the romance sub-plot, the many disasters that Barbara cleaned up for Ruth, the focus on women’s rights, Mrs. Kline, and so much more!

🧳Grief + Healing
🧳Mother and Daughter-in-Law Relationship
🧳Women’s Rights
🧳Jewish Representation
🧳Women’s Fiction + Historical Fiction
🧳Humor + Heart
🧳A Puppy Named Pepper
🧳Leaning On Others
🧳Cameo Appearances From Past Book Characters
🧳Set in the 1960s

“𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛?” 𝙸 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍, 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚁𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚂𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜.

Posted on Goodreads on May 28, 2025: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
Posted on Instagram - Mini Review on May 28, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around August 26, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on August 26, 2025
**-will post on designated date

Confino wins again with a book about strong women overcoming adversity. Barbara is a widow with two young children trying to find her way in the world. Her own mother moved in for two years following her husband’s death & just when she was ready to try it on her own, her mother-in-law, Ruth, shows up on her doorstep. There are a lot of toes stepped on and misunderstandings that end up being funny stories later on. I enjoyed the focus on chosen family and how relationships can change over time.