25 shows that will make you happy to be single this summer

Divorce

Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Frances, is a far cry from Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City. While Divorce is much more serious look at life after a split, it is one of the most honest and (sometimes) hard to watch depictions of what it means to start over.

Season 1 opens on the last gasps of Frances and her husband, Robert’s, marriage. We have to watch as they fight and fall apart, and I’ll admit, it’s tough, and may hit a little close to home for audiences fresh out of a marriage.

For the rest of us, with a little distance and who aren’t too raw to watch it unfold, it’s so honest and affecting. Once they are disentangled, they start to rebuild their own lives, and Frances finally gets to pursue her dreams of opening an art gallery.

The show might not be a laugh-a-minute, but it’s entertaining, and more importantly, inspiring for women coming out of long-term marriages. Frances, like so many divorced women, struggles to find her own identity but persists in trying to get her life on track. She wobbles and feels insecure at times, but she keeps slogging, and eventually, she comes out of the valley and enjoys a fair amount of success professionally and personally.

Where to watch: Divorce is an HBO show, so you can watch it on HBOGo or the HBO extension for Hulu, and you can purchase the episodes on Amazon.