Bankruptcy - by Janet Lombardi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When Janet Lombardi phoned her financial advisor on a gray January day in 2007, she discovered something frightening. Her husband, Josh, an attorney, had emptied accounts without her knowledge. Her advisor spoke bluntly to her: Get yourself a good accountant, attorney, and private eye. Bankruptcy: A Love Story, Lombardi's debut memoir, lays bare the financial and other infidelities in her marriage. It traces the story of her family's plunge into economic turmoil as Josh faces prosecution and prison. Set against the backdrop of September 11^th, the memoir roller coasters through sexual desire, addiction, financial collapse, and squandered love. As wife and mother, Lombardi confronts her own desires and demons as she travels the road to survival and navigates questions of love and redemption.

Bankruptcy: A Love Story adds a human face to the headlines and statistics about sub-prime mortgages and debt-financed living. In 2010, home foreclosures in the United States reached an all-time high with more than one million people losing their homes. Americans have suffered the effects of these tough economic times, but few have captured the frightening ride in such detail. Bankruptcy: A Love Story takes the reader down the well and back up into the light. Ultimately, that road back is lined with painful choices, desperate moves, and the knowledge that letting go provides the only real answer.

Review Quotes

"Riveting!" "

--Sarah Hepola, Author of the New York Times bestseller Blackout:

Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget

"Janet Lombardi's debut memoir Bankruptcy is a poignant, brave, and compelling story of lost money, marital heartbreak, and healing."

--Susan Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Unhooked, Five Men Who Broke My Heart, and What's Never Said

"Bankruptcy is an intriguing story of a shocking loss that could happen to anyone. The writing is riveting! It kept me up half the night."

--Jan Phillips, author, Creativity Unzipped

"Bankruptcy: A Love Story, rich in sensory details, captivates the reader from the first page to the end. Lombardi's voice is authentic, her story is heart-wrenching. We learn what it feels like to be betrayed and yet to still love the betrayer. More than a coming of age story, it is "a coming of self" story. A memoirist wants to understand who she was in the past and who she is today. Janet Lombardi has succeeded, and in so doing she has opened doors to self-discovery for those who have the good fortune to read her fascinating memoir."

--Susan Tiberghien, author, One Year to a Writing Life

"In her beautifully written debut memoir, Bankruptcy: A Love Story, Janet Lombardi captivates us with her personal triumph over deceit and financial infidelity. Lombardi truly gives meaning to perseverance in the face of adversity. This is one book that will leave you feeling inspired and able to overcome whatever life throws in front of you."

--Lori Bizzoco, Executive Editor of CupidsPulse.com

"Set between the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the collapse of the mortgage market seven years later, Bankruptcy: A Love Story tells the harrowing, true story of a marriage careening between devotion and desperation. Offering an intimate view of the corrosive effects of addiction and codependence, Lombardi's memoir is more than the saga of one woman's stunning descent into financial and emotional ruin. It's a story of discovering that the one true love is love of yourself."

--Desiree Cooper, author, Know the Mother

"A fast-paced story about love, sexual identity and the power of money. Bankruptcy: A Love Story tells the tale of how our lives careen around unexpected corners and the courage it takes to go along for the ride. You won't want to put it down."

--Carole Zimmer, award-winning journalist and host of the podcast "Now What?"

"What happens when you learn your great love has betrayed you, that the life you've created together is half-built on lies? Janet Lombardi's fierce, perfectly timed memoir about learning to live anew as the illusion of the American Dream dissolves from within will leave you shaken, aware, and enlightened. Bringing her journalist's eye for details and a keen sense of story, Lombardi offers a guide to survival after losing everything, and an empathetic mirror for anyone who has been broken by a devastating secret."

--Liza Monroy, author, The Marriage Act and Seeing As Your Shoes Are Soon To Be On Fire