Adulterer’s Wife: Introduction Excerpt
Los Angeles, May 2013. I am attending a Kindle conference at a hotel near LAX airport. Participants wait to hear and critique the 30-second “elevator pitch” for my book—what I would say if I met someone influential in an elevator and only had as much time to talk to that person as it would take to reach his or her floor. “I’m writing a self-help book for women whose husbands are unfaithful.” I begin. The women to whom I pitch show considerable interest. A few admit that this is happening to them, and many more say they have a friend who really needs a book like that. Some of the men I talk to say they would buy the book for a friend. One or two even look pretty sheepish. Maybe these guys really mean that they would buy it for their wives.
I continue my pitch. “If your husband is having affairs, how do you decide whether or not to stay with him? You might feel that your cornerstone has been kicked away and that you now have a gaping void in your life. How do you deal with the feelings of anger, loneliness, fear and betrayal? You could be swimming with dolphins in Hawaii, and yet your heart is filled with bitterness rather than joy. This book will give you tools not only to just survive but also to actually thrive within or without your marriage.”