How I Made a Huge Mess of My Life: (or Couples Therapy with a Dead Man)

By Billie Best

Book Overview

A darkly humorous memoir about the complexities of marriage and midlife reinvention

"How I Made a Huge Mess of My Life (or Couples Therapy with a Dead Man)" is a deeply personal and very relatable memoir by Billie Best. It explores the complexities of marriage, the challenges of caring for a terminally ill spouse, and the process of healing and growth after betrayal. Best's writing style is raw, honest, and uplifting, combining humor with deep emotional insights.

As she turns fifty, Best develops a passion for farming that consumes her both emotionally and financially and ultimately breaks her marriage. The book candidly addresses the challenges she faces as she discovers her husband's infidelity while he is dying of cancer and she is his caregiver. Early in his diagnosis, he decides he wants to be a role model for dying beautifully. They explore religious traditions and he plans his death like performance art, intending to die at home. He wants her to care for his body after he's gone. He doesn't want his body sent to a mortuary to be handled by strangers. She promises to fulfill his wishes. But he dies on a holiday weekend, and keeping his body at home is complicated. The dissonance between her commitment to his last wishes and the way he introduces her to his mistress unravels her.

Through her experiences on the farm and reflecting on her past, Best transforms her grief into motivation, highlighting her resilience. As a woman in midlife, her story offers inspiration for readers seeking authenticity and personal growth. She is a role model determined to reinvent herself and embrace her mistakes with a balance of humor, honesty, and emotional depth. A compelling read for those interested in themes of love, marriage, and midlife self-discovery.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1734596406
• ISBN13: 9781734596403
• Release Date: March 2020
• Publisher: Widowspeak Publishing
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Can't wait to read

If Billie Best's blog is any indication, this is going to be a ha-ha funny as well as a too-true-to-do-anything-but-laugh funny book. Her observations about life and her willingness to tell tales about herself are amazingly astute. Combine great content and her keen perspective with wonderful word-images and writing that is delicious to read and you have Billie Best's How I Made a Huge Mess of My Life! I can't wait to read her longer-than-a-blog prose.