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My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward: A Memoir Audiobook
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Publisher Description
A heart-wrenching, yet hopeful, memoir of a young marriage that is redefined by mental illness and affirms the power of love.
Mark and Giulia’s life together began as a storybook romance. They fell in love at eighteen, married at twenty-four, and were living their dream life in San Francisco. When Giulia was twenty-seven, she suffered a terrifying and unexpected psychotic break that landed her in the psych ward for nearly a month. One day she was vibrant and well-adjusted; the next she was delusional and suicidal, convinced that her loved ones were not safe.
Eventually, Giulia fully recovered, and the couple had a son. But, soon after Jonas was born, Giulia had another breakdown, and then a third a few years after that. Pushed to the edge of the abyss, everything the couple had once taken for granted was upended.
A story of the fragility of the mind, and the tenacity of the human spirit, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward is, above all, a love story that raises profound questions: How do we care for the people we love? What and who do we live for? Breathtaking in its candor, radiant with compassion, and written with dazzling lyricism, Lukach’s is an intensely personal odyssey through the harrowing years of his wife’s mental illness, anchored by an abiding devotion to family that will affirm readers’ faith in the power of love.
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“Narrator Josh Bloomberg is truly perfect. He conveys every emotion that Lukach expresses—devastation at Giulia’s delusions and repeated hospitalizations, frustration with the inflexibility and inexactitude of the mental health system, sheer exhaustion and occasional resentment at being a caregiver, and joy at seeing the depression lift before his eyes in an aerobics class full of elderly Asian women. An important story and a lovely performance. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Lukach’s rare combination of tenderness and ruthlessness is what makes this book more interesting than your typical illness narrative.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“The deeply passionate account of the couple’s journey through Giulia’s psychotic break and recovery…Through it all, Lukach explores the fragility of the human mind alongside the resilience of true love and partnership.”
— Bustle -
“An honest and rewarding memoir of a couple’s compassion and love for each other.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Lukach lyrically transforms our understanding of love, mental illness, patience, and devotion in this stunning memoir. With moving and touching prose, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward describes what it’s like to have the picture of your life smashed in an instant and subsequently reassembled miraculously.”
— Mayim Bialik, PhD, neuroscientist, actress, author -
“Honest and heartfelt, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward tells the difficult story of a marriage tested by mental illness, and reminds us that true love is never easy.”
— Kyle Boelte, author of The Beautiful Unseen
Awards
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month for May 2017
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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About Mark Lukach
Mark Lukach is a teacher and freelance writer. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Pacific Standard, Wired, and other publications. He is a teacher and ninth grade dean at an independent school. He lives with his wife, Giulia, and their son in the San Francisco Bay area.
About Josh Bloomberg
Josh Bloomberg, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is a trained professional actor with extensive audiobook experience as a director and narrator. Having worked with some of the biggest publishers in the audiobook industry, he is used to performing at high standards. He speaks English, French, and Hebrew fluently and is a member of the Audio Publishers Association. He also records his voice for commercial spots and other types of voice-over. In his spare time, he loves making homemade almond milk.