"An Available Man," by Hilma Wolitzer

It is a well-known truth that widowers are soon presented with many opportunities for new romance and marriage. "An Available Man" (Ballantine, 2012), Hilma Wolitzer's new novel, focuses on this situation. Edward Schuyler's wife Bee has just died, and Edward, in his early sixties, is devastated. He and Bee had had a very happy, loving marriage. To deal with his grief, he tries to lose himself in his teaching and in staying involved in the lives of his mother-in-law and his young adult stepchildren. Those children, after a time, without Edward's knowledge or permission but with good intentions, put an ad in the personals section in the back of The New York Review of Books on his behalf. He is uninterested, yet tries to be a good sport and eventually meets a few of the many women who have replied to the ad. Suddenly the woman who had left him at the altar long before he met and married Bee comes back into his life. There are many complications, but finally there is a happy ending (but not the one you might predict). This novel is delightful and charming. Edward is a very human and very likable character, and some of the other characters are also well-developed and engaging; Edward's mother-in-law is one such, for example. One of the several things I like about this novel is its portrayal of older characters, and of the romantic relationships that older characters can and do have. "An Available Man" is an enjoyable and satisfying "good read," something Wolitzer is known for.