Fresh Reads: Family & Other Calamities: A Novel by Leslie Gray Streeter
In this episode of A Fresh Story, we sit down with Leslie Gray Streeter—journalist, memoirist, and now debut novelist—to unpack the heartbreak, humor, and honesty woven into her new book, Family and Other Calamities. With wit and grace, Leslie shares how she turned personal loss and professional scandal into fiction that cuts close to the bone.
We follow Leslie’s journey from writing about her own grief in her memoir to crafting a protagonist—Dawn Roberts—who’s just as complex, scarred, and compelling. Dawn returns to Baltimore with her late husband’s ashes, only to be confronted by the ghosts of betrayal, ambition, and love. Leslie takes us behind the scenes of building this character, revealing how fiction gave her the freedom to explore emotional truths that nonfiction sometimes can’t contain.
This conversation is about more than a book—it’s about reinvention, aging with power, and the radical act of writing women in their 40s and 50s as vibrant, sexy, and deeply human. Leslie talks pop culture, storytelling as self-discovery, and why reclaiming your narrative isn’t just cathartic—it’s necessary. If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your calamities into a comeback, this episode is your permission slip.