Publisher, Tantor Media (June 2006)

ALERT! YOUR CD PLAYER MUST BE MP3 COMPATIBLE! MP3 audiobooks on compact disc can be played on newer CD players that support MP3 technology and accept a 4.75" diameter disc, and on any personal computer that has Microsoft's Media Player or similar software.

Since editing the New York Times bestseller The Bitch in the House, Cathi Hanauer has become the unofficial spokeswoman for the contemporary married woman. Now, in Sweet Ruin, she gives us a story of martial crisis and sexual tension featuring a character close to her heart---and recognizable to us all.

Thirty-seven-year-old Elayna Leopold used to be a New York magazine editor, until she and her young family moved to suburban New Jersey. Two years ago, the death of an infant son sent her into a deep depression---a darkness that begins to lift in the company of a handsome, unattached neighbor. As she fights yearnings that could destroy everything that gives her life shape, a threat to her young daughter's welfare emerges from an unlikely source, throwing Elayna's questionable morality into stark relief---and forcing her to make choices she never dreamed she would have to make.

Smart and gripping, Elayna's story raises heart rendering questions about the challenges of ordinary life---marriage, career, independence, and sexuality---that have no easy answers. Sweet Ruin is a triumph of contemporary fiction from a writer known for her candor and wisdom.

About the Author: Cathi Hanauer is the best selling author of The Bitch in the House and the author of the novel My Sister's Bones. She has written articles, essays, reviews, and fiction for Elle, Mirabella, Self, Glamour, Mademoiselle, and many other magazines. She has been the monthly books columnist for both Glamour and Mademoiselle, and was the relationship-advice columnist for Seventeen for seven years. She lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, writer Daniel Jones, and their daughter and son.

About the Performer: Ellen Archer is an actress and a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music in Opera Performance, her recent audiobooks include Trading Up by Candace Bushnell (Sex and the City) and Julia by James Spada. She has recorded several documentaries and over 100 national television commercials.