Mid-Life Ex-Wife

A Diary of Divorce, Online Dating, and Second Chances

By: Stella Grey

Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Nora Ephron meets Bridget Jones's Diary in Guardian columnist Stella Grey's heartrendingly honest, witty memoir about her online odyssey to find real love in a virtual world.

Singers may croon about love being lovelier the second time around, but it can also be far more complicated. When Stella Grey's husband leaves her for another woman, she fears she'll be unhappy and alone for the rest of her life. But daytime vodka drinking and ice cream are only short-term consolations. Realizing that she needs to take her future into her own hands, Stella dives into the world of online dating. What follow are 693 days of hilarious, depressing, and baffling encounters that unfold both in person and online. Stella quickly discovers that the more perfect a man appears on her screen, the warier she should be. It's a game of chance, with some players perfectly willing to lie to get what they want, whether that's a lifetime of love or a very brief encounter.

Amid flirty emails, Skype chats, and awkward small talk over glasses of bad wine (which may or may not lead to awkward sex), Stella struggles to remain optimistic. To succeed, does she have to redefine the kind of man she's looking for - or change the kind of woman she is? Funny, raw, and heartwarming, this book is a brutally honest account of the world of online dating - a world that so many of us are a part of, no matter our age - drawn from Stella's hugely popular Guardian column, Mid-life Ex-Wife (and expanded with new material) about her search for a second chance at love.

©2017 Stella Grey (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Awful performance almost ruined the experience for me

I hated when the narrator impersonated male voices. She is not good at it. Passable book.

Love the candor

I was drawn to the title, being "one" myself. I give the author a lot of credit for sticking it out as long as she did! I liked her honesty and humor when describing her experiences with online dating . It's a good "heads up" . I loved the narrator's voice! Even when I wanted to stop listening because I couldn't stand the jerks she was describing.This is what I needed to hear at this time in my own life. Hindsight IS 20/20, and I'm glad she shared hers! I think it will save me a lot of grief.

I want more

Any additional comments?

A dear friend told me about this book after a rather painful first date kiss off... I dowloaded it that day and couldn't stop listening. Being a widowed mother of four on-line dating has been a 3 year rollercoaster. This book made me laugh out loud and tear up, I could relate to everything. Very well written and told this book was the perfect pick me up, heartwarming, entertaining and encouraging. I didn't want it to end.

Enjoyed the journey

I generally enjoyed the book and the journey it relates. The reason I put 4 stars is because sometimes the author goes on and on for too long on a particular subject. Another thing that annoyed me was the justifying, however I think I will be doing lots of it once I start online dating. Online dating seems such a tiring thing to do and I thank the author for giving me a full picture of it. By the end of the book I got the idea that online dating is a journey of getting to know oneself and, most importantly, getting to love oneself...

Gotta Kiss A Lot Of Frogs...

First time reading any of this author’s work and I absolutely loved it. I’m usually not drawn to non-fiction, though I do enjoy watching documentaries.

This author does a brilliant job of illustrating her experiences with on-line dating so vividly, I honestly felt like I was sitting next to her in a coffee-shop, having a chat with my friend, listening to her as she tells me about the wanker she met for drinks on Friday. It was wonderful as with each date, I was completely drawn in with sympathy, empathy, outrage on her behalf, laughter and tears.

Though this author isn’t the only one to experience the fun as well as the horrors of on-line dating, she takes it one step further and journals nearly 2 years of her experiences, offering sage and logical advice she learned the hard way. This book was a very fast read and I found it hard to put down.

My Final Verdict: Told entirely from the author’s point of view, each encounter offers a no-holds-barred honesty and some tongue-in-cheek humor that gives the reader a very enlightened impression of what finding “the one” online can be like. This book is a must-read for anyone looking for their happily ever after, especially if they are considering going on-line to find them.

A good listen

I really enjoyed listening to this book
It was exactly what I needed and it exceeded my expectations. Very relatable and humorous