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Published Mar 2019
320 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
From the New York Times bestselling author of Good Grief comes a richly poignant and stirring story that asks: How soon is too soon to fall in love again?
The last thing Rudy expected was to wake up one Saturday morning, a widow at fifty-four years old. Now, ten months after the untimely death of his beloved wife, he's still not sure how to move on from the defining tragedy of his life - but his new job is helping. After being downsized from his finance position, Rudy turned to his first love: the piano. Some people might be embarrassed to work as the piano player at Nordstrom, but for Rudy, there's joy in bringing a little music into the world. And it doesn't hurt that Sasha, the Hungarian men's watch clerk who is finally divorcing her no-good husband, finds time to join him at the bench every now and then.
Just when Rudy and Sasha's relationship begins to deepen, the police come to the store with an update about Rudy's wife's untimely death - a coworker has confessed to her murder - but Rudy's actions are suspicious enough to warrant a second look at him, too. With Sasha's husband suddenly reappearing, and Rudy's daughter confronting her own marital problems, suddenly life becomes more complicated than Rudy and Sasha could have imagined.
With Winston's trademark humor and sweetness that will appeal to readers of Jennifer Weiner and Fredrik Backman but is uniquely her own, Lolly Winston delivers a heartfelt and realistic portrait of loss and grief, hope and forgiveness, and two imperfect people coming together to create a perfect love story.
"Winston injects humor into a tough subject and makes a strong case for honoring the departed by making the most out of life, in this nonsentimental and uplifting story about how to navigate through grief." - Publishers Weekly
"Fans of Jonathan Tropper and Winston's other books will want to see Rudy safely along his journey." - Library Journal
"[A] poignant story about loss, unexpected connections, and the circuitous path toward healing." - Kirkus
"Okay, I'm a sucker for a love story. Add gut-busting humor, an unflinching examination of grief, and characters who walk straight into your heart and I'm wowed. Thank you, Lolly Winston." - Ellen Sussman, New York Times bestselling author of French Lessons
"I loved this novel, an immensely readable, emotionally honest examination of the aftermath of grief and loss. Lolly Winston masterfully weaves humor with pathos in this story of second chances, all-too-human foibles, unlikely love, and an uplifting message of hope." - Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of Between You and Me
"Lolly Winston has a masterful way of describing the nuanced, complicated feelings we all experience, but can't always find words to explain. Me for You is a sensitive look at grief, mental health, and the courage it takes to love after loss." - Allie Larkin, internationally bestselling author of Swimming for Sunlight and Stay
"An exquisitely wrought window into an oft-ignored subject, mid-life love, and a reminder that grief and joy can live side by side. Fiction at its best shows us the light at the end of the tunnel; that light burns brightly here." - Michelle Richmond, New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Pact
This information about Me for You was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Lisa Pongrace
Born and raised in Hartford CT, Lolly Winston holds an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College, where she wrote a collection of short stories as her thesis. She is the author of New York Times bestselling novels Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately, which is being developed as a film. Her short stories have appeared in The Sun, The Southeast Review, The Third Berkshire Anthology, Girls' Night Out and others. She's contributed essays to the anthologies Kiss Tomorrow Hello and Bad Girls.
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