Just how difficult is it to attract love and companionship after a woman reaches a certain age?
The Widow and the Ring Dance is a romantic novel and an ironic portrait of a recent widow named Juliette, an American and long-time resident of Norway. She's in a huge rush to find a new life's partner before her good looks fade, and her age, 53, causes her to appear undesirable to suitors.
To demonstrate her viewpoint of how difficult it can be to find love in middle age, she quotes from R.F. Delderfield's novel, God Is An Englishman:
"A man, even a fool of a man, could make any number of attempts to track down happiness, addressing himself to the task until he was old and senile, but a woman had so little time at her disposal, and time for her was running out ..."
After a few feeble attempts at internet dating, the incurably romantic Juliette places a personals advertisement in a newspaper column designed for someone in Juliette's position. Although she's nervous about taking such a chance, Norway seems a safe place to take the gamble.
Juliette is more attractive than she thinks, and in her lifetime has found love easily, but she has never been a middle-aged widow before! Will she meet Mr. Right?


Patricia Bjornstad is a retired teacher of English, history, and drama. Raised in Memphis, Tennessee, she has lived in Miami, Key West, and Jacksonville, Florida, as well as Virginia Beach, Virginia, and now has resided for 32 years in Norway. This is her third book.