Why am I passionate about this?

I was raised in a loving but strict Catholic family in the 1970s, when girls like me were still expected to grow up to become traditional wives and mothers, rather than go to college and pursue a career. In a Pre-Cana class intended to prepare me and my fiancé for marriage (it didn’t work so well, as evidenced by our rancorous divorce twelve years later), I learned the concept of “family of origin,” and the profound impact a person’s upbringing has on them as an adult. I became fascinated by the psychic baggage each of us carries around, and how it affects our personal relationships and life choices.


I wrote

Absolution

By Regina Buttner,

Book cover of Absolution

What is my book about?

When small-town Jeanie goes off to college, a predatory professor takes advantage of her naivete by drugging and date-raping her.…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Open House

Regina Buttner Why did I love this book?

Samantha is the woman I used to be—a devoted and eager-to-please wife who is an expert at turning a blind eye to the cracks in the facade of her marriage. Getting to know Sam in the pages of this novel was a lifeline for me at a very difficult time in my personal life. I was delighted to see how she opens both her home and her heart to unconventional friends and experiences, and in the process, discovers a surprisingly joyous new life for herself.

By Elizabeth Berg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Open House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Elizabeth Berg's Once Upon a Time, There Was You.

In this superb novel by the beloved author of Talk Before Sleep, The Pull of the Moon, and Until the Real Thing Comes Along, a woman re-creates her life after divorce by opening up her house and her heart.

Samantha's husband has left her, and after a spree of overcharging at Tiffany's, she settles down to reconstruct a life for herself and her eleven-year-old son. Her eccentric mother tries to help by fixing her up with dates, but a more pressing problem is money.…


Book cover of Black and Blue

Regina Buttner Why did I love this book?

This story of a wife’s escape from her abusive husband is harrowing, but it’s ultimately a message of bravery and hope. I felt I was walking around inside Frannie’s body, feeling her pain and the desperation of her situation. Her courage in fleeing her home and taking on new identities for herself and her son taught me a powerful lesson about facing my fears head-on, for the sake of my own emotional health and that of my children. I read this book over a decade ago, but its portrayal of incredible female strength and tenacity has stuck with me over the years.

By Anna Quindlen,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Black and Blue as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old.'

For eighteen years Fran Benedetto kept her secret, hid her bruises. She stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father, and because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten-year-old son's face, Fran finally made a choice - she ran for both their lives.

Now she is starting over in a city far from home, far from Bobby. She uses a name that isn't hers, watches over her son, and tries to forget. For…


Book cover of Not That I Could Tell

Regina Buttner Why did I love this book?

I once lived in a close-knit neighborhood similar to the one in which this novel is set, and I was entranced by the interplay between the variety of characters in this tale of domestic suspense. The story isn’t so much about the woman who disappears one night as it is about the perplexed bunch of girlfriends who are left behind. I relished the voyeuristic peek into the hidden dramas of the various neighbors’ personal and family lives—it made me feel like I was riding a silent drone through the ’burbs, swooping unseen through kitchens, bedrooms, and backyards, uncovering people’s secrets!

By Jessica Strawser,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Not That I Could Tell as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Full of slow-burning intrigue, Strawser's second novel will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies and Jennifer Kitses' Small Hours." —Booklist

*Book of the Month Club Selection

An innocent night of fun takes a shocking turn in Not That I Could Tell, the next page-turner from Jessica Strawser, author of Almost Missed You.

When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It’s a rare kid-free night, and they’re giddy…


Book cover of Best Day Ever

Regina Buttner Why did I love this book?

The story of a flamingly narcissistic man plotting to betray his wife shouldn’t be funny at all, but Kaira Rouda definitely pulls it off with impressive skill and verve. Husband Paul is so insanely self-centered that I couldn’t stop laughing at the stream of inanities flying around in his egotistical brain as he drives his wife Mia to their lake house for what’s supposed to be the most memorable day of their lives. And is it ever, thanks to Mia’s moxie. You go, girl!

By Kaira Rouda,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Best Day Ever as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Compelling' Hello!

'[A] deliciously dark story shot through with black humour.' Sunday Mirror

A loving husband. The perfect killer?

'I wonder if Mia thinks I have a dark side. Most likely as far as she knows, I am just her dear loving husband.'

Paul Strom has spent years building his perfect life: glittering career, beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in the suburbs.

But he also has his secrets. That's why Paul has promised his wife a romantic weekend getaway. He proclaims this day, a warm Friday in May, will be the best day ever.

Paul loves…


Book cover of Cleaning Nabokov's House

Regina Buttner Why did I love this book?

I was afraid this book might be too depressing at first, and kept yelling at the heroine, Barb, to quit feeling sorry for herself and do something already to get her kids back from her domineering ex-husband. But the author’s wry voice drew me in, and this quirky novel is now one of my all-time favorites. Throughout the low times in my life, I’ve found humor to be the best tonic, and bumbling Barb delivers it here. I love how she rises above her seemingly hopeless circumstances by devising a highly questionable but totally kick-ass hilarious scheme to raise some quick cash and reunite with her children. The zany characters and spot-on descriptions of small-town life are guaranteed to boost your mood. 

By Leslie Daniels,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cleaning Nabokov's House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“I knew I could stay in this town when I found the blue enamel pot floating in the lake. The pot led me to the house, the house led me to the book, the book to the lawyer, the lawyer to the whorehouse, the whorehouse to science, and from science I joined the world.”

So begins Leslie Daniels’s funny and moving novel about a woman’s desperate attempt to rebuild her life. When Barb Barrett walks out on her loveless marriage she doesn’t realize she will lose everything: her home, her financial security, even her beloved children. Approaching forty with her…


Explore my book 😀

Absolution

By Regina Buttner,

Book cover of Absolution

What is my book about?

When small-town Jeanie goes off to college, a predatory professor takes advantage of her naivete by drugging and date-raping her. Believing she was to blame for the assault, Jeanie conceals the resulting pregnancy from her old-school Catholic parents. She drops out of college, moves away, and marries the first nice guy she meets, in the desperate hope that devoting herself to marriage and motherhood will somehow absolve her from her sins.

But evidence of Jeanie’s previous pregnancy eventually surfaces, and her new husband’s pristine image of her is blown. As Greg’s shock deepens into violence and emotional abuse, Jeanie realizes she must finally confront the trauma in her past in order to save herself from a marriage that threatens to destroy her.

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All They Need to Know

By Eileen Goudge,

Book cover of All They Need to Know

Eileen Goudge Author Of All They Need to Know

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Baker

Eileen's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

On the run from her abusive husband, Kyra Smith hits the road. Destination unknown. With a dog she rescued in tow, she lands in the peaceful California mountain town of Gold Creek and is immediately befriended by an openhearted group of women who call themselves the Tattooed Ladies. They’re there for Kyra—and for each other.

The maternal Frannie is a tattoo artist struggling with a troubled daughter. Suzy is a self-described fashionista grandma bearing a painful estrangement from her son. Then there’s Jo, whose storybook marriage is shadowed by a grim medical diagnosis. And bookstore owner Marisol. She longs for…

All They Need to Know

By Eileen Goudge,

What is this book about?

A woman escaping a violent past finds new friendships, romance, and tenuous sanctuary in an emotionally gripping novel by New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge.

On the run from her abusive husband, Kyra Smith hits the road. Destination unknown. With a neglected dog she rescued in tow, she lands in the peaceful California town of Gold Creek and is immediately befriended by an openhearted group of women called the Tattooed Ladies Club. They're there for Kyra-and for each other.

The maternal Frannie is a tattoo artist struggling with a troubled daughter. Suzy is a self-described fashionista grandma bearing a…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in abuse, marriage, and grief?

Abuse 13 books
Marriage 129 books
Grief 89 books