Synopses & Reviews
What would you do if, just weeks after your spouse's sudden death, you found out he was keeping secrets? Big secrets. Secrets that could cost you millions of dollars—and brand you as a criminal. Innocent Spouse is an eye-opening memoir that asks a provocative and disturbing question: Is it possible to really know and trust someone, even your spouse?
Carol Ross Joynt was a successful television producer in Washington, D.C. Her husband, Howard, owned Nathans, a legendary restaurant in Georgetown. From an outsider’s perspective, Carol and Howard lived a fairy-tale life—spending weekends at their Chesapeake Bay estate, rubbing shoulders with New York’s and Washington’s elite, and raising their beloved son, Spencer. But everything changed with Howard’s sudden death when Spencer was only five years old.
Like any widow, Carol was devastated because she lost the love of her life and her son’s father. But soon Carol had much more to cope with than her grief and new life as a single parent. As she was forced to take over her family’s legal and financial responsibilities, as well as run Howard’s restaurant on her own, Carol discovered that her husband had secrets, and one of them, an almost $3 million debt to the IRS, threatened to derail her entire life. And even though Carol didn’t know anything about the tax fraud—finances had always been Howard's department—no one cared. As his surviving spouse, legally, Carol was responsible.
As Carol picks up the pieces of her fractured life and copes with her sadness and anger, she learns to become something she’d never been before: self-sufficient. Poignant, eye-opening, and at times heartbreaking, Innocent Spouse is ultimately an inspiring story of strength and newfound independence in the face of loss and betrayal.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
What would you do if, just weeks after your spouse's sudden death, you found out he was keeping secrets?Carol Ross Joynt was a successful TV producer and award-winning journalist in Washington, D.C. Her husband, Howard, owned a legendary restaurant in Georgetown. They had a young son, a happy marriage – a seeming fairy-tale life. But Howard’s sudden death changed everything. Carol was shocked to discover that her husband had secrets – financial secrets – including a $3 million debt to the IRS that still had to be settled. Carol was responsible for repaying the debt, unless she could prove she knew nothing about Howard’s fraudulent dealings and convince the government she was an innocent spouse.
With no time to grieve, Carol was forced to immediately learn to manage her family’s legal and financial responsibilities, run Howard’s restaurant, hold her own career together, and raise their son as a solo parent. As she picked up the pieces and coped with her sadness and anger, she learned to become self-sufficient. Poignant, eye-opening, and at its core uplifting, Innocent Spouse is ultimately an inspiring story of strength and newfound independence in the face of loss and betrayal.
About the Author
CAROL ROSS JOYNT started her three-decade career in journalism with the wire services and
Time magazine before becoming a writer for Walter Cronkite on
CBS Evening News. She went on to work as a producer and writer for NBC News,
The CBS News Nightwatch,
USA Today: The Television Show,
This Week with David Brinkley, Nightline, Larry King Live, and
Hardball with Chris Matthews. Upon her husband’s death, Joynt inherited his landmark Georgetown restaurant, Nathans, where she created an interview program,
The Q&A Café. Today, in addition to hosting the show, Carol writes a weekly column about Washington for NewYorkSocialDiary.com.
From the Hardcover edition.