It's a year after her divorce and Molly Kagan's happy ending seems to have fallen apart: her romance with Sam-the handsome yet guilt-ridden homeless man-fizzled and her second children's book didn't exactly sell like hotcakes. Realizing she must rely on herself, Molly decides it's time get serious about making her new life work.
From now on, she's going to concentrate on raising her seven-year-old daughter, Jaden (easier said than done in a town where children have BlackBerries) and establish her new home as a safe and stable environment. Which means, two things: first, that she is officially swearing off men and becoming a "Virgin Queen" and second, that she's going to take a writer's workshop to give her flailing writing career a much-needed shot in the arm.
Her ex-husband Kenny's monthly checks help-when they don't bounce, that is-but Molly would much prefer to have her financial freedom. Kenny, on the other hand, still happily relies on Molly's emotional support while he tries to keep his flop-in-the-making passion project afloat. And since Kenny has sunk Jaden's college fund into the project, Molly has a vested interest in keeping Kenny afloat while also giving him a crash course on good parenting skills.
In the meantime, Molly keeps busy directing traffic at morning drop-off and organizing fundraisers at Jaden's school where the progeny of every A-lister is enrolled. Now that she's no longer a Wife Of anyone important, she's invisible to most people, except Liz Marsh, Wife Of Devon Marsh, the relief pitcher for the Dodgers. It's only the first week back to school and it looks like Molly might've made a new friend.
It turns out to be too bad that Molly has just sworn off dating because Zach, the novelist, Oscar nominee and Starter Husband of the head of a talent agency who leads the writer's workshop, is pretty damn handsome. But since Molly has decided to quit after the first session since the others in the group clearly hated her book, she won't have to worry about resisting weekly temptation. Zach, however, isn't letting her give up so fast. After hearing her read observational pieces from her journal, he invites her to a party so he can introduce her to an editor of "The Left Coast" magazine.
The Starter Wife chronicles the events of one woman's life following her divorce after years of marriage to a Hollywood studio executive.