September 15, 2021 by Sarah Van Goethem
A Borrowed Husband shortlisted for CBC Nonfiction Prize
![](https://www.sarahvangoethem.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/A-borrowed-husband-post.png)
The story’s source of inspiration
“Love. How love is messy and unpredictable and not always easy. I like to hide behind fiction, but my mom is always insisting I write my story. After my first husband died, I spent the next year writing a journey through grief that no one has ever seen. In doing so, I learned that the harder you love, the harder you grieve. I avoided writing this story for a while, because I knew it would hurt. But in the end, it is also a love story. Just a different one than most people imagine. I wrote it to the first wife because it is her story, too. Just like my late husband, she holds a piece of this story we all share.”
![](https://www.sarahvangoethem.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/A-borrowed-husband-post2.png)
Read the story here:
https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/a-borrowed-husband-by-sarah-van-goethem-1.6164289