Preview
  • Black Widow

  • A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title
  • By: Leslie Gray Streeter
  • Narrated by: Leslie Gray Streeter
  • Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (91 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Black Widow

By: Leslie Gray Streeter
Narrated by: Leslie Gray Streeter
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.81

Buy for $14.81

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

With her signature warmth, hilarity, and tendency to overshare, Leslie Gray Streeter gives us real talk about love, loss, grief, and healing in your own way that "will make you laugh and cry, sometimes on the same page" (James Patterson).

Leslie Gray Streeter is not cut out for widowhood. She's not ready for hushed rooms and pitying looks. She is not ready to stand graveside, dabbing her eyes in a classy black hat. If she had her way she'd wear her favorite curve-hugging leopard print dress to Scott's funeral; he loved her in that dress! But, here she is, having lost her soulmate to a sudden heart attack, totally unsure of how to navigate her new widow lifestyle. ("New widow lifestyle." Sounds like something you'd find products for on daytime TV, like comfy track suits and compression socks. Wait, is a widow even allowed to make jokes?)

Looking at widowhood through the prism of race, mixed marriage, and aging, Black Widow redefines the stages of grief, from coffin shopping to day-drinking, to being a grown-ass woman crying for your mommy, to breaking up and making up with God, to facing the fact that life goes on even after the death of the person you were supposed to live it with. While she stumbles toward an uncertain future as a single mother raising a baby with her own widowed mother (plot twist!), Leslie looks back on her love story with Scott, recounting their journey through racism, religious differences, and persistent confusion about what kugel is. Will she find the strength to finish the most important thing that she and Scott started?

Tender, true, and endearingly hilarious, Black Widow is a story about the power of love, and how the only guide book for recovery is the one you write yourself.

©2020 Leslie Gray Streeter (P)2020 Hachette Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Black Widow is a beautiful love story that also happens to be a grief story. Leslie Gray Streeter tells the whole tale - falling in love, marriage, adopting, parenthood, death, moving on - with her captivating wit. Only she could make Black Widow so deeply moving, painfully funny, altogether unforgettable." (Rob Sheffield, author of Dreaming the Beatles and Love Is a Mix Tape)

"Grief is a heavy darkness with spots of unexpected, unpredictable light. Leslie's book is a light for those still stuck in the dark - a sad, funny, personal story filled with universal truths about life and love and loss." (Nora McInerny, author of The Hot Young Widows Club and No Happy Endings)

"When Streeter's husband died, leaving her to raise their baby with her mother, also a widow, the journalist and playwright was plunged into a new, surprisingly funny life of coffin shopping and staring down racism." (Glamour)

What listeners say about Black Widow

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    73
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    67
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    62
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Uplifting and funny

A must read for anyone who has experienced loss. And even those who have not.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful love story

The book was so good that I listened to it in one sitting. I loved the tv pop culture references , and the touching stories about Leslie’s husband, Steve. I laughed a lot and boo hoo cried at least 3 times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!!

Leslie’s candor and sense of humor make the unbearable truths of her way-too-soon widowhood both piercing and hilarious. She doesn’t sugar-coat. She lets you in, and the lets you off the hook by sharing what got her through.

This book should be performed as a film or a play... it’s that good!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

All around lovely!

May we all have the grace, kindness, and perseverance of this author. on top of an absolutely captivating story, her narration draws you in and pretty shortly you'll be rooting for her and her family to win.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Deeply Moving and Hilariously real

Leslie Gray Streeter tells the story of navigating her grief with an assured voice that invites you into the heart of the aftermath of her husband’s death and her life. Don’t miss this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

I loved this book loss my husband this year. Much needed information, I needed this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An amazing romp thru widowhood

I loved it. While I don't look forward to widowhood, this book lets me know i can get to the other side.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed!

I had this book recommended to me via a widow’s group to which I belong, but you don’t need to be a widow to appreciate and enjoy. Leslie did a nice job of explaining her feelings and experiences through a tough loss without making the reader uncomfortable. I love her sense of humor and self reflection. I am happy to recommend to non-widow friends.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story-- don't pass this up

I laugh-cried through most of this book. It is beautifully written and skillfully read. Ms. Streeter offers balance along a number of lines- vulnerability without self-indulgent martyrdom, humor without making everything a punchline, raw emotion and thoughtful insight- all wrapped up in tight, well written prose. Looking forward to enjoying more from this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My Husband Died and I Needed This Book

Thank you Leslie for writing this book. I felt less alone while reading it.

My 41year old husband died suddenly a month ago from an aneurysm and I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.

This book reminded me that I don't have to know.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful