Planet Heartbreak is a compilation of sixty-two stories written by women who have experienced Wife Abandonment Syndrome - when a husband leaves what his wife believed to be a happy marriage without ever having told her that he was unhappy or thinking of leaving. He often directly moves in with an affair partner, leaving his traumatized wife totally devastated. This will undoubtedly be the defining event in her life, and although recovery is a struggle, many women find that it forces them to reinvent themselves in positive and exciting new ways.
The spellbinding short stories in Planet Heartbreak describe how the wife found out that her husband was leaving and outlines the events around his departure but, more importantly, explores the emotional process the woman goes through integrating the fact that her life as she knew it, as if hit by a tsunami, was suddenly over. Written by women at varying lengths of time since the husband left, from two months to fifteen years, the storytellers vividly express their shock and heartbreak, but also offer insight, provide strategies for recovery, share their wisdom, and inspire the reader to keep reaching to love life again.
The book is edited by Vikki Stark, family therapist known worldwide as a divorce recovery expert, and author of Runaway Husbands: The Abandoned Wife's Guide to Recovery and Renewal, the companion volume to Planet Heartbreak. Runaway Husbands is the bible for wives who have experienced abandonment, providing a deep understanding of Wife Abandonment Syndrome and detailed strategies to help women rebuild their lives. The website associated with the book has become the place women meet to encourage each other and help them feel that they are not crazy and not alone. The stories in Planet Heartbreak are written by women from this community.