My Lovely Wife

A Memoir of Madness and Hope

By: Mark Lukach

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg

Mark and Giulia fell for each other in their teens, married in their 20s, and didn't realise what their love would demand of them until Giulia suffered a terrifying and unexpected psychotic break at the age of 27. Hospitalized for almost a month, she was tormented by delusions and paranoia. Upon release, she sunk into an extended suicidal depression during which Mark, struggling to support Giulia, was torn between the demands of keeping her safe and following doctors' orders, and honouring her independence and making her feel loved.

Eventually Giulia fully recovered, and the couple had a son. 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. In My Lovely Wife, Mark takes us through these harrowing years with compassion and candour, as he and Giulia renegotiate their relationship, anchored by an abiding devotion to each other and their family.

A story of the fragility of the mind and the tenacity of the human spirit, My Lovely Wife is, above all, a love story that raises profound questions: how do we best care for the people we love? What and whom do we live for? Breathtaking in its honesty, radiant with compassion, written with dazzling lyricism, this intensely personal odyssey offers much-needed insight into the caregiving side of mental illness and affirms the power of love.

©2017 Mark Lukach (P)2017 Harper Audio