Separation Anxiety, Laura Zigman, author; Courtney Patterson, narrator
Picture a sling with which to carry a newborn baby. Now, put it on a middle-aged woman, and place a dog in it! That’s right, a dog. Judy wears her dog, Charlotte. It isn’t the only unusual choice she makes. In fact, her judgment is often flawed, as she is hampered by feelings of inadequacy and has difficulty dealing with life’s inevitable loss of loved ones.
Although she is a published author of a children’s book, she is apparently a one-book wonder. Her current life is abysmal. He marriage is in decline, she and Gary are living apart, but in the same house, her son Teddy is going through puberty and is rejecting her, her best friend Glenn has a terminal illness and her finances are in a shambles. She cannot cope with all that is on her plate. The problems of humans intimidate her, but embracing the dog is a comfort to her.
From the description of the book, I expected to laugh out loud, even as I occasionally might also even shed a tear. I did not experience such a range of emotions. I wasn’t given to mood swings from the narrative, although I did chuckle and had a few aha moments when Judy’s experiences jogged my own memory. She knew someone named Michael Wasserman when she was in school, and I grew up with someone named Michael Wasserman. She went to Temple Sholom Hebrew school, and coincidentally, my children went to Temple Sholom Hebrew school. As a Jew, I also identified with the description and behavior of the stereotypical Jewish mother.
However, the story didn’t seem that realistic to me, even though the problems suffered by the characters were very real. The situations they were in felt contrived, rather than authentic. Although genuine problems of life were introduced, like addiction, drugs, dementia, homosexuality, divorce, infidelity, death and illness, they didn’t feel fully developed. They just seemed to plop into the story to check off their inclusion. The characters seemed like caricatures of real people and the human puppets seemed to represent that theme. Gary had panic attacks and anger management issues, Glenn was the wise one who in spite of what life gave her, was the optimist, Michael married his girlfriend’s brother, Judy felt sorry for herself, Teddy was insecure and worried that his parents would divorce, Noah had dementia, and there were an abundance of virtue signalers like the ones who reported Judy for animal abuse or confronted her in the supermarket. Even politics was briefly mentioned.
The book is mainly about Judy and her choices which are occasionally humorous in a slapstick sort of way, and sad in a bittersweet kind of way. The book explores relationships, those between husband and wife, parent and child, friend and friend, and even the interactions between strangers, some who seem well meaning and some who seem vindictive. Although grief and loss motivate Judy to require the comfort that she only seems to find in the closeness of Charlotte, her eventual epiphany doesn’t seem authentic, nor do the philosophical conclusions propelling the characters toward their destiny.
I think I wanted more from the book than it provided. However, the narrator did a really good job identifying each character and portraying their personalities. It is a quick read, and it will please many readers.