New Normal

by Michelle Paris

Overview

After the sudden death of her husband, Emilie Russell just wants to feel normal. But being a middle-aged widow doesn't come with a how-to manual. Her well-meaning friend, Viv, believes the cure to all that ails is simple: a new man. So, she sets Emilie up with her handsome and charming new neighbor, widower Colin. There's only one problem with the plan-Colin is gay.

Emilie embarks on a rollicking journey of self-discovery with Colin as her mentor and best friend. From learning to swipe right without cringing while midlife dating in constricting shapeware to cougar moments in Key West, Emilie reenters the dating pool with both humorous and soul-crushing results.

With the encouragement of her friends, including a new furry one, plus a little therapy, Emilie begins forging a new life, one where she exchanges tears for laughter, and one that maybe-just maybe-includes the courage to find love again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627204521
Publisher:	Loyola College/Apprentice House
Publication date:	05/02/2023
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Michelle Paris is a Maryland writer who believes laughter can heal the heart. Her debut novel, New Normal is loosely based on her own experience as a young widow. Her personal story of overcoming grief was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. And her essays about grief and mid-life dating have appeared in multiple editions of the Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational book series as well as in other media outlets. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Maryland Writer's Association. Currently, Michelle is enjoying chapter two of her life with her new husband, Kevin, who keeps her from being a cat lady-but only on technicality.

Editorial Reviews

2023-08-31
A widow struggles to move on in Paris’ novel.

Emilie Russell, a publicist in Baltimore, arrives at a party where her friend, Viv Parks, is trying to set her up with a man. Emilie’s not interested; she’s recently been widowed and doesn’t feel ready to date yet. Still, Viv introduces her to Colin Meyer, a lawyer who also recently lost a partner. Unbeknownst to Viv, Colin is gay, but he and Emilie connect over their similar losses and become fast friends. Emilie is still grieving and having difficulty sleeping, which is causing her to make mistakes at work, getting her into trouble with her overbearing boss. She resolves to try to recover from her grief as best she can—Colin talks her into counseling, which helps, and she also adopts a dog. She takes a girls’ trip to New York with Viv and her friends, goes on a blind date, attends her alma mater’s homecoming, and befriends Colin’s Aunt Dee, who is a delight (“Dee had, after burying two husbands of her own, made it a hobby at the ripe old age of seventy-nine of attending funerals in her small Delaware town, offering a shoulder to cry on followed soon after by a bed to sleep in”). The novel doesn’t have much of an arc or throughline but instead charts series of incidents over a year spent by Emilie mourning her husband. All of Emilie’s friends pressure her to start dating again, which seems odd given that her husband has died so recently. Still, some of Emilie’s dating misadventures are funny, and glimpses into other relationships—Viv and her husband are having problems; several of Emilie’s dates are divorced—serve as illuminating contrasts to Emilie’s own life without her husband. Emilie’s friendship with Colin is one of the best elements in the book, illustrating how simpatico friends can help each other heal. Emilie ultimately arrives at a resolution for how to live her life going forward, and her triumph gives the story a satisfying ending.

A realistic but optimistic look at grief.

Kirkus Reviews