Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

"When I read Julie Metz's Perfection, I inhaled every word! I loved it, not just for the raw facts of Julie's ordeal but even more for the lyrical, insightful point of view from which it was written. Julie writes close to the bone as she searches for meaning and embraces the beauty of an imperfect life." -Sarah Landis "It's wonderful--clean, clear, honest, heartbreaking, lucid, and thoughtful." -Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love (on Julie Metz's Glamour piece) A breathtakingly honest, gloriously written memoir about the complexities of forgiveness when a young widow discovers her husband's secret life after his death. Julie Metz seemed to have the perfect life--an adoring if demanding husband, a happy, spirited daughter, a lovely old house in an idyllic town outside New York City--when in an instant, everything changed. Her charismatic, charming husband, Henry, suffered a pulmonary embolism and collapsed on the kitchen floor. Within hours he was dead, and Julie was a widow and single mother at 44. Just like that, what seemed like a perfect life melted away. But the worst was yet to come.Six months after his death, Julie discovered that her husband of 12 years, the man who loved her and their six-year-old daughter ebulliently and devotedly, had been unfaithful throughout their marriage, going so far as to conduct an ongoing relationship with one of Julie's close friends. This memoir--moving, simple, filled with incandescent images--is the story of coming to terms with painful truths, of rebuilding both a life and an identity after betrayal and widowhood. Ultimately, it is a story of rebirth and happiness--if not perfection.