• Em's Awful Good Fortune

  • A Novel
  • By: Marcie Maxfield
  • Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
  • Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

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Em's Awful Good Fortune  By  cover art

Em's Awful Good Fortune

By: Marcie Maxfield
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
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Publisher's summary

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, nonlinear 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 hear. 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.

©2021 by Marcie Maxfield (P)2022 by Marcie Maxfield

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What listeners say about Em's Awful Good Fortune

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  • 08-01-22

I was pleasantly surprised!

This was such a heartfelt well written book. I enjoyed it much more than I expected. I laughed, I groaned and I commiserated!! Thank you Marcie for sharing this insightful and well thought through novel!

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    4 out of 5 stars

Amusing account of the life of a trailing spouse

I knew the author briefly when we were both in Shanghai. Hopefully an exaggeration of her times overseas. A lot of truth to her tale - and told with a lot of humor

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