Sweet Ruin: A Novel

"Cathi Hanauer has perfectly captured the subtleties and nuances of contemporary, suburban motherhood. In Elayna Leopold, she has created a character so real, so flawed, so sympathetic, and so familiar I half expect to step out my door each morning and bump into her. I kept hearing her voice in my head for days after I finished this book." -- Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Mothers: How Mother Loss Shapes the Parents We Become"Sweet Ruin is a juicy, delectable novel, with pitch-perfect dialogue and characters that leap to fascinating life; every scene unfolds with complexly intertwined sexual suspense and emotional resonance. Hanauer is a born novelist." -- Kate Christensen, author of The Epicure's Lament"Cathi Hanauer's wise and generous new novel takes as its subject the loss of a child, the difficulties of marriage and the wages of adultery, but winds up being about nothing less than the miracle -- and yes perils -- of what it means to be truly alive. It's completely irresistible. Be prepared to stay up late." -- Karen Karbo, author of The Stuff of Life: A Daughter's Memoir"In Sweet Ruin, Cathi Hanauer turns her attention to both the rhythms of motherhood and the interrupting presence of desire. The result is a novel that is as observant about family life as it is about love and sexual longing. I really didn't want it to end." -- Meg Wolitzer, author of The Position--This text refers to the Paperbackedition.