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 11th, 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.