“Separation Anxiety is a hilarious, heart-breaking and thought-provoking portrait of a difficult marriage, as fierce as it is funny…. My advice: Start reading and don’t stop until you get to the last page of this wise and wonderful novel.” —Alice Hoffman
AN ANTICIPATED BOOK FROM:Entertainment Weekly * Cosmopolitan * USA Today * Real Simple * Parade * Buzzfeed * Glamour * PopSugar
From … * Parade * Buzzfeed * Glamour * PopSugar
From bestselling author Laura Zigman, a hilarious novel about a wife and mother whose life is unraveling and the well-intentioned but increasingly disastrous steps she takes to course-correct her relationships, her career, and her belief in herself
Judy never intended to start wearing the dog. But when she stumbled across her son Teddy’s old baby sling during a halfhearted basement cleaning, something in her snapped. So: the dog went into the sling, Judy felt connected to another living being, and she’s repeated the process every day since.
Life hasn’t gone according to Judy’s plan. Her career as a children’s book author offered a glimpse of success before taking an embarrassing nose dive. Teddy, now a teenager, treats her with some combination of mortification and indifference. Her best friend is dying. And her husband, Gary, has become a pot-addled professional “snackologist” who she can’t afford to divorce. On top of it all, she has a painfully ironic job writing articles for a self-help website—a poor fit for someone seemingly incapable of helping herself.
Wickedly funny and surprisingly tender, Separation Anxiety offers a frank portrait of middle-aged limbo, examining the ebb and flow of life’s most important relationships. Tapping into the insecurities and anxieties that most of us keep under wraps, and with a voice that is at once gleefully irreverent and genuinely touching, Laura Zigman has crafted a new classic for anyone taking fumbling steps toward happiness.
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Separation Anxiety is a hilarious, heart-breaking and thought-provoking portrait of a difficult marriage, as fierce as it is funny… [Zigman’s] sharp eye for contemporary life is a revelation… My advice: Start reading and don’t stop until you get to the last page of this wise and wonderful novel.
I mean, who doesn’t want to wear a dog in a sling all day long??? I thoroughly enjoyed this zany, yet poignant new novel from Laura Zigman, which achingly details a middle-aged, formerly successful writer’s struggles with loneliness from the loss of her parents and the disintegration of both her relationships with her son and husband – and the increasingly unorthodox methods she turns to for comfort. It’s a story that could have turned either completely depressing or improbably silly, but Zigman masterfully balances the serious and comic elements (she has some incredibly funny one-liners!) in this touching and wholly satisfying novel.
This book really resonated with me. It’s about loss, and change, and dogs and marriage and kids and how we can’t control much of anything but it’s what we do when we have no control that makes the difference. Highly recommend
A comic, heartening story of a foundering marriage and family possibly finding its feet again, by achieving radical acceptance of everything from dog wearing to giant puppets to chicken nuggets. Writers will likely empathize with the heroine’s situation. Wives, too, I imagine. Recommended if you have a sense of humor, doubly so if you’ve already lived a little.
Sometimes a book finds its way to you and you just know instantly that this is the book you need now. That’s how I feel about Separation Anxiety. I think it’s the book everyone needs right now. It is compassionate and funny, articulating with gentle humor the terrible things that we’re all grappling with. To steal a phrase from my daughter, it made me happy-cry.
In Separation Anxiety, Laura Zigman has given voice to the exquisite nuances of the struggles we all face in the course of our lives and at the same time leaves us feeling less alone and more hopeful. With striking humor, tender vulnerability, and pitch-perfect portraits of the complexities of our relationships, she’s captured the human condition in a way I often don’t see outside of the therapy room.
This humorous novel is about getting old and life changing – something that happens to all of us but some people accept it better than others. As with many people, the main character feels that she is invisible to the rest of the world but she comes up with a strange way to handle her feelings. I empathized with her because I’ve had a lot of the same feelings so it was great to read a funny book about life changing as you get older.
Judy is 50 years old. She has a surly teenage son who no longer talks to her and a pot-smoking husband plus her best friend is dying of cancer. Judy is an author who had a very successful children’s book but is now in permanent writer’s block. She and her husband are always in debt and have trouble with bills – like their son’s tuition. They are separated and sleep in different rooms but they can’t afford to get a divorce. One day as Judy is cleaning out the basement, she finds the baby sling that someone gave her at her baby shower and she realizes that she’s never used it. So she puts it on and tucks her dog into the sling. All of a sudden life begins to feel better and she has the dog with her to help alleviate her anxiety over life. Carrying around the dog in a sling upsets her son and husband but it makes her feel wonderful so she continues to do it. The big question throughout the book is whether Judy will be able to find happiness in her life as she is faced with all of the struggles and set backs that seem to multiple as you get older. And if she does find happiness, will she be able to get rid of the sling or will it keep her set in her old ways and attitudes.
It’s hard to grow old and become invisible to the rest of the world but even if you are invisible, you can still find happiness. This is a funny but emotional look at finding peace and contentment as you grow older.
This book captured my attention immediately. I was always anxious to get back to it whenever I left off. Laura Zigman writes about an anxiety-ridden family with compassion, humor and the realization that despite each of their hangups everything was going to be okay.
The plot line was somewhat unusual but the writing was good.
This book is very different and somehow both funny and sad, all at the same time. I was glad that it had an uplifting ending. I really wanted that for these characters, who really felt like complicated and real people. I really enjoyed this read, just know that it is not super light-hearted, which the cover sort of implies.
I thought the premise of the book was interesting, but the plot was exceedingly strange. The underlying psychosis of each family member and other characters were extreme. I could feel no empathy with anyone. I do not think the author succeeded in portraying difficult life issues and how to grow through seeking resolutions.
The main character was too self-absorbed.
I started and stopped this book a few times. So much was going on with the pandemic, my health, my family and my brother’s death then the riots. I was overwhelmed. Some days it felt like I was never going to be able to read a book all the way through again. I still feel overwhelmed a lot. But I started the book again and, this time, I didn’t want to put it down.
I understood Judy so much. I envied her and her baby/dog sling. I kept thinking, (still am), I have a shih tzu. Zoey could absolutely fit in one of those slings. There is so much comfort there. Judy is the main character. Her marriage is faltering, her son moving into those teen years where they push you away yet pull you close-occasionally, her best friend is dying and, due to money problems, puppet people, (actual real people- I’ll let you discover more about that), have moved into her home for the time being. I totally understand why Charlotte is in a sling comforting Judy. I don’t know that I would say I had fun reading this. It made me think, (and will continue to for some time), questioning my emotions and mental health with all that is happening now. I like to think, so that was excellent. I like Judy. Flawed Judy who I may resemble some. I think she is stronger than I am. I actually liked most of the characters. Parts of this book had me laughing out loud and one part had me sobbing like a toddler whose balloon flew away. It felt good, comforting, to read this book. Once I started I didn’t want to put it down. This is a book that takes you through life and helps you be a better person. That’s how it worked for me, anyway. I sat a moment after I finished, deep breathing, thinking what a wonderful movie this would be.
Put aside some time. Definitely have some comforting snacks and drinks. A throw and a dog, (or cat), would round things out nicely. Get it all set up, get comfy and then open this book up and dive in. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If you aren’t certain of the story, read the sample or borrow it from the library. I think it is a book you will either understand and love or you will be bewildered and dislike it. Those who have been seasoned by life and know the comfort of a pet will probably be in the first group.
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. A review is appreciated but not required. I voluntarily reviewed this book because I enjoyed it so much. Thank you to Goodreads, Laura Zigman and Harper Collins for providing an uncorrected copy of this book.
This book is a great tongue-in-cheek slice of life for a middle-aged woman starting to lose her sense of purpose. It’s not easy when your only child becomes a teenager. The novel explores every emotion, poking fun at new trends and searching for inner peace while keeping us uncertain about the future of her marriage. It’s been a long time since a book kept me this entertained and interested.
Unusual and quirky with an unexpected ending. Even has a “mystery pooper”!
When we meet Judy Vogel, she is struggling. Her marriage is on the rocks, her career is going nowhere and her thirteen year old son doesn’t need her anymore. When she finds her son’s old baby sling in the basement, she takes to wearing her sheltie 24/7 to calm her anxiety and help her find peace. This book is unique, witty and often hilarious while still addressing the real issues women face in midlife. What happens to us when beauty fades and our family no longer needs us? How do we cope with the feeling of invisibility that often comes with this phase of life? Is there are way to reinvent yourself in mid life? These topics are explored fully, but the book never feels heavy or preachy. I loved traveling with Judy as she learns how to appreciate her own worth and find her new place in the world. A mid life crisis has never been so much fun.
I love Separation Anxiety…. Laura Zigman is an emotional sharp-shooter — she is able to home in on the most tender, revealing, exquisitely painful aspects of our relationships with others and with ourselves. And somehow she manages to come out the other end with hope, having found what was most meaningful after all. And by the way, I can totally relate to the desire to wear one’s dog. If I could, I would.
What a gem of a novel. Separation Anxiety is wickedly funny, heartrending, poignantly wise, and hopeful. It’s laced with moments of self-doubt and marital mayhem, but also the many small daily acts of mercy and heroism that love inspires, though we too often overlook them. The main character, Judy, is hilariously offbeat, yet very easy to identify with, honest and thoughtful, and I loved spending time with her.
Separation Anxiety is as hilarious and painful as life itself. Laura Zigman’s latest novel takes on the (sometimes surreal) trials of middle age with wit and compassion — pitch-perfect, it’s a joy to read.
The premise of Separation Anxiety caught my attention, but the execution fell short of my expectations. There were weird, quirky characters, which I love. Both Judy and Gary are paralyzed by anxiety. Neither has had a great deal of success from the standard perspective. Gary turns to weed for relief. Judy wallows with no direction. In addition to her self-doubt and anxiety, she is suffering from some sort of midlife crisis as her only son is exhibiting standard teen behavior and the normal desire to cut the apron strings.
Personally, I struggle with the loss of the job of “mom”. Not that I’m no longer someone’s mother, but they make it known that they don’t need me and don’t want my sage suggestions. However, I have not succumbed to carrying my dog in a baby sling as a way to get over that feeling of being superfluous.
Yes, I get it….it is supposed to be comedy. Judy is supposed to be quirky and lovable. She is clinging to the idea that keeping something that needs taking care of makes her needed and worthy, but really, it is just weird. Maybe it is meant to be poking fun at the “normal” people who cling to their dogs and call them emotional support animals, but it felt offense toward people who truly do suffer from a panic disorder. It’s one thing to be a “Peter Pan” and not know how to be an adult, and it is another thing to truly suffer from debilitating panic and anxiety.
While I appreciated the humor, I just couldn’t get beyond the insulting way that mental health was dealt with.