BOOK DESCRIPTION: 

Based on a study of over 400 women worldwide, Runaway Husbands: The Abandoned Wife’s Guide to Recovery and Renewal, is the first book to explore and offer healing strategies to women whose lives have been turned upside down by Wife Abandonment Syndrome. Wife Abandonment Syndrome is a pattern of behavior on the part of a husband who leaves his wife out-of-the-blue from what she believed was a happy marriage. Following his sudden departure, he replaces the caring he’d typically shown her with anger and aggression. He often moves directly in with a girlfriend, leaving his bewildered wife totally devastated. Written by family therapist Vikki Stark who was herself affected by Wife Abandonment Syndrome, Runaway Husbands helps women understand what motivated their loving husbands to turn into uncaring strangers and provides them with the tools they need to move forward and rebuild their lives in new and unexpected ways.

Written by family therapist Vikki Stark, who herself experienced Wife Abandonment Syndrome, and chock full of stories from the women in the study, Runaway Husbands has three main goals:

•Explanations – It helps women understand how a man who appeared to be a loving husband could morph overnight into an uncaring stranger
•Strategies – It provides women with the tools they need to push through the suffering and move forward to rebuild their lives, often in new and unexpected ways.
•Prevention – It will help women who are in happy marriages learn how to safeguard their marriages and recognize warning signs that may indicate trouble.

The focus of Runaway Husbands is on helping women turn the crisis of abandonment into an opportunity for empowerment and growth. Although it describes the difficult experiences of abandoned wives in detail, it also provides tools for recovery and recounts many stories of women who fought their way to a better future.

MY REVIEW:

I’ve not been a victim of Wife Abandonment, but my husband of 30 years did die somewhat quickly.  So I thought I would read this book to see if it was relatable to grieving wives. 

The first half of the book is about the incredible heartache of women who’s husbands just one day, out of the blue, said “I’m done,” and out the door they go.  I have no idea how I would have handled that type of drama.  Would I ever learn to trust again?  And that is an issue these women face.  Not only trying to find who they really are without being a “part” of someone else, but learning to move on and trust again.  I can definitely relate to the fact that women do lose themselves in their marriages and it becomes all about ‘him’ and his wants and needs.  So, when you’re suddenly alone, you actually have to face ‘yourself’, and for some women, it’s the first time they’ve ever been alone. 

The second half of the book is about overcoming the hurt and learning to move one.  Here again, I can relate.  Even when suffering grief, we still get obsessive about our past and we reflect over and over on the good and bad times of our relationship.  It was brought up in the book that losing your husband due to abandonment versus death is harder.  Not sure if I agree with that idea.  Death is final while divorce, though you may hate him, at least he’s still alive. 

If you’ve been abandoned by what you thought was a loving and caring husband, this book might help you come to terms with all the self-doubt and learning how to move on to a better and more fulfilling life.  I give it 4 stars.