Compelling memoir of breaking free of a controlling relationship to find business success.

Great for fans of Anne Theroux’s The Year of the End, Indra Nooyi’s My Life in Full.

The Wrong Calamity Marsha Jacobson | DartFrog Books 262p, trade paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-959096-93-1

Jacobson’s debut is an elegant, engaging account of her life as a wife and mother facing a harrowing marriage, then as a single parent and eventual successful business executive. Unappreciated, obese, and struggling with an undiagnosed eating disorder, Marsha accepts Peter’s proposal even when she knows instinctively that “this marriage would nail me into a very bad box.” Later, even while dealing with divorce and a vengeful Peter, and mothering two little girls, she joins Harvard Business School. Though plagued by illness, she completes her course, and then starts work, happy to provide for her daughters. (Promised support from Peter never comes.) She marries longtime friend Jay, who is recovering from his wife’s suicide, but Jay’s traumatic childhood comes to haunt their marriage.

Jacobson’s excellent storytelling skills make the memoir riveting. She plunges us straight into the heart of things right from the beginning and is able to maintain this steady pace. At the same time, the narrative is thoughtful and reflective when the story demands. Unpredictable and domineering, Peter is the most interesting character. Marsha’s second husband Jay, meanwhile, endures the far-reaching consequences of childhood abuse, sensitive material that Jacobson handles with insight and empathy. Minnie and Julia, Marsha’s grandmothers, are incredibly strong and empathetic women who help support their neglected grandchild.

Jacobson’s career takes her to fascinating places, such as Mattel headquarters in Japan, and she captures them and their cultures with nuance and welcome bursts of wit. She addresses work challenges and the ways in which she tackled them. Her passion for her chosen career is evident in these anecdotes. Jacobson’s never-say-die attitude, her immense love for her two girls, and her strong narrative skills make this memoir an absorbing and rewarding read.

Cover: B | Design & typography: A | Illustrations: – Editing: A | Marketing copy: A