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Girlfriending
By Susanna Daniel
After a brief, head-spinning affair leaves her heartbroken, a divorced, perimenopausal mother sets out to date ten women in exploration of what she calls her lesbian adolescence, a quest she takes on with the ride-or-die support of her best friend and the small but mighty community she gathers along the way.
From the author of Stiltsville and Sea Creatures, two beloved novels about the slippery terrain of love and marriage, and inspired by her award-winning short story, “The Goddess of Illicit Choices,” comes a lively and taut exploration of friendship, courtship, community, and all the shades in between. At its heart, Girlfriending asks: How do we remake our lives midstream, and how do we know when we've arrived?
ISBN: 979-8-9912123-4-2
8” x 5” | 242 pages
$21.95
Available in paperback and ebook
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Praise for the book
“A novel that is so charming and warm and smart and about friendship and love and middle-age and I want to give it to all my middle-aged friends going through divorces and life reckonings.”
—Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Prep and Romantic Comedy
“I swallowed Girlfriending down in one big, thrilled gulp, not having realized how thirsty I was for exactly this calmly mesmerizing and fresh book about midlife. Also? It made me want to be a better person, somehow, even though it's sexy, page-turning fiction (i.e. not self-help). I am a huge Susanna Daniel fan and will be for life.”
—Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich and Wreck
“Girlfriending is a novel to read in a passionate rush, immediately start again in a more savoring way, and then press into the hands of everyone you know. This beautifully-written tale of marriage, divorce, love, sex, and everything else brims with compassion, shimmers with truth. Destined to be the dog-eared bible for those going through midlife queer awakenings (and their girlfriends, who will undoubtedly steal it). Susanna Daniel is a treasure.”
—Amy Shearn, author of Animal Instinct
“A magic trick of a story about a life that’s been knocked over and broken open, full of vulnerability, generosity and desire. This novel literally makes me a happier person.”
—Michelle Wildgen, author of Wine People
“What does it look like for a middle-aged and semi-newly-out ‘lesbian adolescent’ to go on ten first dates? In Susanna Daniel’s hands the answer is tender, very funny and as messy as real life. A loving and complicated portrait of a woman negotiating the intricacies of finding a girlfriend and of rediscovering herself, one romantic rendezvous at a time.”
—Lucas Schafer, author of Slip
“Ravishing, racy, and tender. Girlfriending is a joyful, full-throated experience.”
—Flynn Berry, author of Northern Spy
“Daniel delivers a pitch-perfect story with this sensitively rendered novel about a late-in-life lesbian awakening… Daniel’s evocative prose and expertly plotted tale combine heat and heart, viewed through the experiences of a woman coming into her own power.”
—Booklife
“Told in vivid prose and includes sage observations about life and human connection… A charming and insightful exploration of reinvention and connection.”
—Kirkus Reviews