Thirty-five-year-old Elayna Leopold lives with her young family in suburban New Jersey. Working from home so that she can raise her six-year-old daughter, Hazel, while her husband, Paul, puts in long hours as a corporate lawyer, Elayna is typical of women who spend their twenties chasing dreams in the city only to spend their thirties chasing children in the suburbs. Yet no one knows better than she that life can change in an instant. Two years ago her infant son died, sending her into a deep depression from which she is just emerging. Awakening now to the idea that she can want more than simply to get through the day, Elayna finds herself suddenly — thrillingly — craving life's passions again. When she meets Kevin, a young artist with whom she begins to spend more and more time during Paul's absences, Elayna discovers a version of herself she thought was gone forever. As she uncovers yearnings that could destroy everything she cherishes, a threat to Hazel emerges from an unlikely source, making Elayna's choices and decisions that much more critical.

"Editor of The Bitch in the House and author of My Sister's Bones, Hanauer returns with a compelling turn on a familiar story: a couple recovering from the loss of an infant son. Elayna Leopold, 35, traded in her life as a single magazine editor in Manhattan for life as wife and mother in affluent suburban New Jersey, with lawyer husband Paul. Two years after the death of their son, Oliver, Elayna spends her days caring for six-year-old daughter Hazel and working as a freelance editor of a poetry magazine. Elayna starts to come back to life, her awakening coinciding with the appearance of hot young dog-owner Kevin in the apartment building across the street. As Elayna's entanglement with Kevin threatens her marriage, Hazel's relationship with Elayna's fashion photographer father, Devon, raises the specter of Elayna's childhood and her father's dubious judgment. Excellent characterizations (including Devon, Elayna's adulterous friend Celeste, and day care provider Pansy Dougherty), dialogue and the spot-on representation of the family dynamic make this book difficult to put down. One keeps waiting for something horrific to happen, but instead the story builds slowly and plausibly. What happens is subtle and ambiguous — as in real life. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"While many chick-lit heroines don't seem to take themselves seriously, Hanauer's...character does, also realizing she'll pay dearly for her actions." Library Journal

"Bravely tackling the complexity of sexual life....Skillfully imagined, bittersweet portrait of marriage and sacrifice." Kirkus Reviews

"Given Hanauer's keen perceptions and delicate sensitivity, one cannot help but acutely feel the emotional and moral turmoil engulfing this winsome young wife and mother." Booklist

"Sweet Ruin is a juicy, delectable novel, with pitch-perfect dialogue and characters that leap to fascinating life; every scene unfolds with complexly intertwined sexual suspense and emotional resonance. Hanauer is a born novelist." Kate Christensen, author of The Epicure's Lament

"In Sweet Ruin, Cathi Hanauer turns her attention to both the rhythms of motherhood and the interrupting presence of desire. The result is a novel that is as observant about family life as it is about love and sexual longing. I really didn't want it to end." Meg Wolitzer, author of The Position

"Cathi Hanauer's wise and generous new novel takes as its subject the loss of a child, the difficulties of marriage and the wages of adultery, but winds up being about nothing less than the miracle — and yes perils — of what it means to be truly alive. It's completely irresistible. Be prepared to stay up late." Karen Karbo, author of The Stuff of Life: A Daughter's Memoir

"Cathi Hanauer has perfectly captured the subtleties and nuances of contemporary, suburban motherhood. In Elayna Leopold, she has created a character so real, so flawed, so sympathetic, and so familiar I half expect to step out my door each morning and bump into her. I kept hearing her voice in my head for days after I finished this book." Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Mothers: How Mother Loss Shapes the Parents We Become

A gripping story, this novel tells the tale of a 35-year-old woman battling depression after the death of her infant son and her gradual return to life, that happens to coincide with the appearance of a handsome young man in the apartment building across the street.

Cathi Hanauer, the author of the novel My Sister's Bones, has written articles, essays, reviews, and fiction for Elle, Mirabella, Self, Glamour, Mademoiselle, and many other magazines. She lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, writer Daniel Jones, and their daughter and son.