Dear Husband: Letters to an Addict (Henschelhaus Publishing)

by Nancy Peterson

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Author: Nancy Peterson

Publisher: HenschelHAUS Publishing, Inc.

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 1595987029
ISBN 13: 978-1595987020

Dear Husband is a powerful, intimate book about loving an addict. Nancy tells her story through a series of letters written to her husband over the course of many years. The letters begin two decades into their marriage, when an already rocky relationship becomes increasingly untenable. This book illuminates their struggles and that of their family with honesty, heartbreak, and humor. This is a story of sadly universal appeal: it is for anyone who has loved an alcoholic or addict, shared a life with one, or had his or her life affected by one. Nancy s story is unique in its epistolary approach, and sheds light on love and life's many shades of gray. People often say to any victim in an abusive relationship Just leave!; but it is never that simple, nor that easy. This is the portrait of a shared life, with all of its flaws but also its fullness.

Review

These letters share Nancy's loving, painful journey with Patrick, her alcoholic and drug-addicted husband. I commend her resilience in navigating this, both as a wife and mother, and appreciate her brute honesty in sharing her story one that is shared by so many. --Marisa Perhaes, author of When I Was Blue

Unfailingly honest, both intellectually and emotionally, this is the story of a marriage flawed by the husband's addiction to drugs and alcohol. Readers looking for a feel-good tale with a storybook ending should look elsewhere. But this book is not without hope or inspiration, because it is also the story of two people who loved each other deeply and who, in their own ways, remained true to each other. It is the story of courage in the face of fear, fidelity in the face of betrayal, humor in the face of despair. The reader will come to know two remarkable human beings whose struggles and pain echo their own in countless ways, two people whose marriage is ultimately measured not by what they lost but by what they kept. --Mary G, reader

This book is a captivating story of contentious family life told with veracity, intelligence, and love. The wife's letters to her tragic husband and to her self, reflecting on their love, marriage, and three children veers from happiness to sorrow and finally, to a particular perspective of life. The use of heartfelt poetry and stories of quarrelsome but loving children struggling to cope with their parents and finding their path in life gives the book a winning perspective of hope and endurance. --Campbell M, reader

About the Author

Nancy Peterson was raised on the North Shore of O'ahu, and has lived in California, Tennessee, Alaska, and New York City. She graduated with a BA in History and Sociology from New York University, and later with a teaching degree from the University of Hawaii. In 2001 she moved with her husband and three children to Northport, Michigan, where she still resides. Nancy is a lifelong journaler, as well as a poet and personal historian. This is her first book.