Em’s Awful Good Fortune

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What to expect

Paris. Tokyo. Shanghai. Seoul. Em’s Awful Good Fortune is part global romp, part dysfunctional marriage. Em is not simply married—it’s more like she’s handcuffed to her husband’s international career. Sure, they might be velvet cuffs, but still … cuffed. What else can she do but stomp her way through global capitals in search of her own identity?

Part dysfunctional marriage, part global romp, this is not your typical expat story. Em’s Awful Good Fortune is a deeply personal, marriage coming-apart-at-the-seams look at the struggle between a woman’s desire for partnership and her need for identity. Fueled by twin demons, love and rage, Em stomps her way around the world coming to terms with the fantasy of having it all: husband, kids, and a career. Em is not just married; it’s more like being handcuffed to her husband’s international career. Her life reads like a fantasy, bouncing between Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Seoul. But—the good fortune is all her husband’s: Em is just the tagalong wife.

Maxfield’s compelling, non-linear story explores the expatriate lifestyle through the lens of a crumbling marriage, while at the same time tracing the lasting impact of sexual assault and PTSD. Em’s journey exposes the dark corners of this seemingly privileged world: loneliness, depression, infidelity, and loss of career. An empowering, uncomfortably funny narrative about compromise that every woman should read. As Em begins to value her needs before those of her husband’s career, she stops letting herself be dragged along for the ride—and ultimately emerges triumphant.

Critics Review

  • “A playwright known for infusing humor and wit into feminist issues…addresses with honesty and empathy the dark side of becoming a tagalong spouse.”

    Asian Review of Books

  • “With a brilliant cast of colorful characters and specific details of each country lived in, this book is…a true traveling adventure with real-life celebrations and letdowns.”

    Seattle Book Review

  • “Em’s Awful Good Fortune is a hoot…I recommend it to anyone in a marriage or contemplating entering one.”

    Story Circle Book Reviews

  • “Maxfield calls Em’s problems those of ‘tagalong wife privilege,’ but the novel isn’t just about that…[but also] the notion of abandoning the care of one’s own health and happiness in the name of love of family and marriage.”

    Kirkus Reviews

  • “Takes its reader across the world and deep into the heart of its trapped, privileged, suffering, and, ultimately, invincible narrator.”

    Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize–winning author

  • “With unsentimental humor and deep humanity, Marcie Maxfield writes with brutal grace about the journey to find the self you didn’t know you’d lost. Oh, and this isn’t chick lit. This is lit.”

    Alan Watt, author of Diamond Dogs

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