Good Grief Summary: Sara Goodman Confino’s Novel
Introduction
In March 1963, in the suburbs of Washington, DC, thirty-two-year-old widow Barbara Feldman decides she is ready to raise her two children without live-in help.
She sends her mother back to Philadelphia and plans a weekend to prove the three of them can manage alone.
Then she returns from the zoo to find her mother-in-law, Ruth, waiting on the front step with five suitcases.
Good Grief by Sara Goodman Confino follows the collision between a woman determined to stand on her own and a blunt, grieving mother-in-law who refuses to let her.
Set against postwar suburban Jewish life, the story moves through family life, hospital work, and the question of what comes after loss.
TL;DR: Quick Briefing
- Who: Barbara Feldman, a thirty-two-year-old widow, her two children, and her late husband’s mother, Ruth.
- Where and when: The Washington, DC, suburbs, March 1963 to February 1964.
- Central situation: Barbara wants independence; Ruth moves in unannounced and reorganizes the household.
- Main threads: Grief, workplace harassment at a hospital, matchmaking schemes, and a slow-burn friendship with grocer Eddie Greene.
- Themes: Loss, second chances, needing help, family, antisemitism, and the signs people read into everyday life.
👉 Watch on YouTube: Good Grief Summary & Recap | Sara Goodman Confino
Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Barbara Feldman | Thirty-two-year-old widow of Harry; mother of Susie and Bobby; hospital patient liaison. |
| Ruth Feldman | Harry’s mother and Barbara’s mother-in-law; widow of Abe; moves into Barbara’s home unannounced. |
| Harry Feldman | Barbara’s deceased husband and Ruth’s son; father of Susie and Bobby. |
| Susie Feldman | Barbara and Harry’s eight-year-old daughter. |
| Bobby Feldman | Barbara and Harry’s six-year-old son. |
| Pepper | Miniature schnauzer puppy Ruth brings home. |
| Janet Weinstein | Barbara’s best friend; Eddie’s sister; George’s wife; mother of Jeanie, Kevin, and Paula. |
| Eddie Greene | Janet’s brother; owner of Greene Grocers; long-time quiet helper to Barbara. |
| Joseph Greene | Eddie and Janet’s father; widowed grocer; reconnects with Ruth. |
| Mr. Moskowitz (Morty) | Grumpy widowed neighbor; the first man Barbara sets Ruth up with. |
| Sam Goldberg | Hospital patient and widower; the second man Barbara sets Ruth up with. |
| Mrs. Louise Kline | Antisemitic, hypochondriac hospital patient who befriends Ruth. |
| Dr. Howe | Doctor at the hospital who harasses nurses and Barbara. |
| Dr. Harper | Hospital administrator who fires and later reinstates Barbara. |
| Dr. Lefkowitz | Cardiologist who treats Ruth and diagnoses her anxiety attack. |
| Gloria Ramirez | Nurse and friend of Barbara; helps with hospital matters. |
| Donna Swanson | Head nurse who helps organize the strike. |
| Nurse Jones (Shirley) | Hospital nurse who assists Barbara and Ruth. |
| Beverly Diamond | Journalist, lawyer, and political columnist; leads legal pressure to reinstate Barbara. |
| Stuart Friedman | Lawyer and Senator Landau’s chief of staff; assists Beverly. |
| Barry Waterman | Firefighter Ruth invites to dinner as a setup for Barbara. |
| Barbara’s mother | Lives in Philadelphia; helped Barbara for two years after Harry’s death. |
| Barbara’s father | Barbara’s father; goes on a cruise with Barbara’s mother. |
| George Weinstein | Janet’s husband. |
| Paula Weinstein | Janet and George’s toddler daughter. |
| Jeanie Weinstein | Janet and George’s daughter. |
| Kevin Weinstein | Janet and George’s son. |
| Evelyn Gold | Friend at Paula’s birthday party; mother of Anna, Joanie, and Richie. |
| Richie Gold | Evelyn’s baby; Barbara helps him walk. |
| Joanie Gold | Evelyn’s four-year-old daughter. |
| Fred Gold | Evelyn’s husband. |
| Linda Stein | Guest at Paula’s party, with her husband. |
| Mrs. Garrison | School secretary. |
| Lloyd | Assistant manager at Greene’s. |
| Gary | Butcher at Greene’s. |
| Delores | Hospital front desk staff. |
| Dr. Worlitzer | Doctor who discharges Sam Goldberg. |
| Abe Feldman | Ruth’s deceased husband and Harry’s father. |
| Gertrude Greene | Joseph’s deceased wife; Eddie and Janet’s mother. |
| Gretchen | Mrs. Kline’s deceased daughter. |
| Miriam | Ruth’s friend from the old country. |
| Sheyntkeyt | Ruth’s childhood pony. |
| Alice | Ruth’s sister, who lives in Boston. |
| Ruth’s parents | Ruth’s father was a rabbi; her mother gave Ruth the emerald ring. |
| Abe’s mother | Ruth’s difficult mother-in-law. |
| Senator Michael Landau | Beverly’s political connection. |
| Henry Goldman | Fraternity brother mentioned in Barbara and Harry’s meeting story. |
| Charlene | College friend dumped by Henry Goldman. |
| Donnie Goldblum | Barbara’s past date, mentioned by Ruth. |
| Mr. Bellflower | Patient Mrs. Kline tries to order tests for. |
| David Jacobson | Store customer, with Mrs. Jacobson. |
| Mrs. O’Connor | Patient Barbara spills water on. |
Good Grief Summary: The Full Story
Spoiler warning: this section covers the plot, including the ending.
The novel opens in March 1963 in the Washington, DC, suburbs. Barbara Feldman is thirty-two and widowed; her husband, Harry, died of a heart attack two years earlier.
Since then, Barbara’s mother has lived with her and helped raise Susie, eight, and Bobby, six. Barbara decides she is ready to stand alone and sends her mother back to Philadelphia.
She takes the children for ice cream and then to the National Zoo, hoping to make the first weekend feel special. When they return, Harry’s mother, Ruth Feldman, is sitting on five suitcases on the front step.
Ruth announces she is moving in, explaining that Barbara’s mother told her she was leaving. Barbara tries to resist, but Ruth settles into the guest room, rearranges furniture, criticizes Barbara’s cooking, and inserts herself into family life.
Barbara works part-time at a hospital as a patient liaison. She started as a candy striper after Harry’s death and was later hired by Dr. Harper, and the job gives her purpose outside motherhood and grief.
Ruth begins volunteering at the same hospital, where she befriends Mrs. Kline, an antisemitic and hypochondriac patient. Ruth also meets Joseph Greene, the father of Barbara’s best friend Janet.
Joseph’s son Eddie Greene owns Greene Grocers, the local grocery store. For two years he has quietly brought food, fixed Barbara’s wall, shoveled snow, and supplied dog items, and he is clearly in love with her.
Barbara thinks of Eddie as a friend and almost a brother. Ruth’s meddling escalates when she brings home a miniature schnauzer puppy without asking, names her Pepper, and helps the children care for her.
Barbara tries to push Ruth out by setting her up with Mr. Moskowitz, a grumpy widowed neighbor. The date ends badly when Mr. Moskowitz tries to kiss Ruth, and she kicks him and takes a cab home.
A second setup, with hospital patient Sam Goldberg, fails when he turns out to be a chauvinist who insults both women. Meanwhile, Ruth and Joseph reconnect at Janet’s daughter Paula’s birthday party, where it becomes clear they share a history from the O Street Market.
Trouble also builds at work. Dr. Howe, a talented but predatory doctor, has harassed women at the hospital for years. Ruth, trying to force Barbara to move on, fakes a near-death hospital emergency and extracts a promise from Barbara to give Dr. Howe a chance.
Barbara is furious. Later, Dr. Howe retaliates by claiming Barbara harassed him, and Dr. Harper fires her because the hospital cannot afford to lose the doctor.
Janet and Ruth organize a nurses’ strike. Beverly Diamond, a journalist and lawyer, and Stuart Friedman, a lawyer and Senator Landau’s chief of staff, help Barbara win her job back, and Dr. Howe leaves for another hospital.
Ruth continues seeing Joseph Greene. He proposes, but Ruth panics and suffers an acute anxiety attack at the hospital that feels like a heart attack.
Dr. Lefkowitz treats her and confirms it is not her heart. Ruth then admits she sold her house before moving in and has no home to return to, and reveals that Harry made her promise to help Barbara move on after a couple of years.
Barbara realizes Ruth is not only meddling; she is lonely, grieving, and trying to keep her family close. Barbara’s relationship with Eddie deepens after a flat tire and an emotional breakdown on the side of the road, where Eddie confesses that the right girl thinks of him as a brother.
Barbara is scared and unsure whether she can love again. Eventually she goes to Greene’s, takes the microphone, and calls Eddie to the manager’s counter, telling him she is there for him.
They kiss in front of customers and staff. In February 1964, Ruth marries Joseph Greene, and Barbara and Eddie are together. Barbara’s mother offers to move back in, but Barbara says she has help and can do this.
A red cardinal, the sign Susie associates with someone gone, appears on the car. Barbara touches Susie’s painting of a cardinal and whispers, “Thank you.”
The novel ends with Barbara ready to see what the rest of her life will look like, knowing the hole Harry left will never be gone, but that her heart has grown around it.
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What Drives the Story
| Theme | How the book presents it |
|---|---|
| Grief and loss | Barbara mourns Harry daily; Ruth mourns Abe and her only son; Mrs. Kline mourns her daughter Gretchen; the children grieve their father. |
| Moving on and second chances | Barbara takes tentative steps toward Eddie while Ruth begins a courtship with Joseph Greene. |
| Independence vs. needing help | Barbara wants to run the household alone; Ruth insists she cannot; Janet, Beverly, and the nurses organize around her when she is fired. |
| Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law | Barbara and Ruth clash, meddle, and misunderstand each other before becoming family to one another. |
| Family and found family | The Feldman, Greene, and Weinstein families intertwine, and Ruth becomes a mother figure to Barbara. |
| Friendship and community | Janet’s loyalty, Eddie’s quiet support, the nurses’ strike, and Beverly and Stuart’s legal help all move the plot. |
| Workplace sexism and harassment | Dr. Howe’s behavior, Dr. Harper’s complicity, the nurses’ strike, and Barbara’s firing and reinstatement. |
| Antisemitism and Jewish identity | Mrs. Kline’s prejudice, Ruth’s memories of fleeing pogroms, and Shabbat dinners, the JCC, and deli customs. |
| Memory, signs, and spirituality | Barbara talks to Harry; Ruth talks to Abe and Harry; the red cardinal appears as a possible sign. |
| Matchmaking and meddling | Barbara and Ruth each try to set the other up, and their schemes backfire before leading to real relationships. |
| Cooking as care and conflict | Ruth’s terrible cooking and Barbara’s challah and brisket serve as love, insult, and family ritual. |
| Motherhood and single parenting | Barbara’s fears and triumphs, Ruth’s single parenting of Harry, and Janet’s exhaustion with three children. |
Quotes from Good Grief Book
“I’m ready,” I said quickly. Too quickly. A wounded expression crossed her face, and I felt guilty.
— Barbara, speaking to her mother
“You’re my daughter, Barbara,” she replied, squeezing me. “All you ever need to do is say you need me.”
— Barbara’s mother
“They don’t give you a medal for doing everything yourself. And whether you like it or not, I’m not letting you or my grandchildren go through that just because you want to be a martyr.”
— Ruth, to Barbara
“A puppy won’t fill the hole left by their father,” she said. “But you’ll see: puppies make hearts grow so that hole seems a little smaller.”
— Ruth, to Barbara
“I know you think you want to do everything on your own, but you can’t.”
— Janet, to Barbara
“But you don’t get any points for being a martyr.”
— Ruth, to Barbara
“He didn’t want you to be alone, like I was. He wanted you to find happiness again.”
— Ruth, to Barbara, about Harry
“I knew now that the rest of my life likely wouldn’t look the way I ever imagined it. But I was ready to see what it would look like.”
— Barbara
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Who Should Read Good Grief?
The novel suits readers of historical women’s fiction set in the early 1960s, particularly those interested in postwar suburban life and Jewish American family culture.
It also appeals to readers who prefer domestic fiction built around relationships rather than fast external plots.
Those drawn to widowhood and second-chance romance will find both here, along with a friends-to-lovers thread that develops gradually across the book.
Readers interested in workplace harassment narratives and women organizing collectively will find the hospital storyline and nurses’ strike central to the second half.
The tone mixes humor with grief, so readers who prefer lighter family comedy alongside emotional weight are the best fit.
The narrative is first-person, chronological, and episodic, spanning roughly eleven months from March 1963 to February 1964.
Books Like Good Grief
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes — A widowed woman in a small town slowly reopens to love, sharing the second-chance romance and quiet-community dynamic.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver — A grieving young widow navigates parallel emotional worlds, matching the focus on loss and moving forward.
How to Walk Away by Katherine Center — A woman rebuilding her life after a sudden accident, with the same blend of humor and recovery.
The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman — A young widow with children finds support through an unexpected group, echoing the found-family structure.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett — Set in the early 1960s and centered on women pushing against workplace and social constraints.
Book Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Fiction; Historical Women’s Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Romantic Women’s Fiction, Jewish Fiction, Humorous Family Drama
- Core Narrative Tropes: Forced proximity, meddling mother-in-law, widow’s second chance, found family, slow-burn friends-to-lovers, workplace harassment reckoning, signs from a deceased loved one, matchmaking schemes
- Tone & Atmosphere: Witty, warm, poignant, humorous; nostalgic 1960s suburban Jewish life; grief-tinged but hopeful
- Primary Conflict: Barbara wants independence while Ruth moves in and disrupts her household; Barbara also faces workplace harassment, Ruth’s matchmaking, and her own fear of loving again
- Pacing Style: First-person, chronological, character-driven, episodic domestic comedy with emotional arcs
- ISBN: 978-1662527531 (ISBN-10: 1662527535)
- Pages: 287
- Book Structure: 48 numbered chapters, plus an Epilogue, Author’s Note, Acknowledgments, and Book Club Questions; the Epilogue is dated February 1964
- Publisher: Lake Union Publishing, August 26, 2025
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