Monica Holloway

a love story

Cowboy and Wills

Driving with Dead People

Recounts how the author struggled to retain her optimism in spite of her father's sexual abuse, her mother's abandonment, and her siblings' betrayals; her morbid fascination with a local funeral business that led to her job as a hearse driver; and the insecurities that have overshadowed her survival. 30,000 first printing.

A Memoir

Recounts how the author struggled to retain her optimism in spite of her father's sexual abuse, her mother's abandonment, and her siblings' betrayals; her morbid fascination with a local funeral business that led to her job as a hearse driver; and the insecurities that have overshadowed her survival. Reprint. 40,000 first printing.

A searingly honest, compulsively readable, ultimately redemptive memoir about marriage, divorce, and love, from an acclaimed author beloved for her “irresistible narrative style” (Washington Post). On a sunny June morning, Friday the 13th, 2008 Monica Holloway believed she was a forty-five year old woman in a loving, stable marriage, devoted to her husband and their autistic son. But in the midst of making French toast for her son, Holloway had a heart attack. When she opened her eyes, lying on her kitchen floor, she realized that her husband was not leaning down, holding her head, telling her she was going to be all right. Holloway’s heart attack opens her eyes to her broken marriage. She unearths her husband’s history of infidelity—the bars he frequented to pick up women, and the illicit affair that brings the marriage to its knees. Holloway is forced to acknowledge that her childhood home, filled with secrets, lies, and sexual deviances, was not left behind in 1980s Ohio. She had married it, and it was making her sick. Holloway didn’t have much hope for her marriage, but she knew she had to stare down her past, her present, and as much of her future as possible. She and her husband separate and for six years they keep things real—which is to say, raw, ugly, messy. They each do intensive work on themselves and they also continue to raise their son together. Six years later, transformed, they slowly begin to fall in love again. Life is messy, and sometimes unbearably difficult, but “diving into the mess” is exactly what heals us. Heart Attack is an achingly candid and deeply compelling memoir about love and marriage, betrayal and trust, and taking on that increasingly rare mission of saving a marriage.

Marriage, Mayhem, and the Split that Damn Near Killed Me

Heart Attack

Christened “charming” and “winning” by the Washington Post and “touching” by Publishers Weekly, celebrated author Monica Holloway’s deeply moving memoir shares the unforgettable story of an extraordinary little boy and the irresistible puppy who transformed his life. The day Monica Holloway learns that her lovable, brilliant three-year-old son has autism spectrum disorder, she takes him to buy an aquarium. But what Wills really wants is a puppy, and from the moment Cowboy Carol Lawrence, an overeager and affectionate golden retriever, joins the family, Monica watches as her cautious son steps a little farther into the world. With his new “sister” Cowboy by his side, Wills finds the courage to invite kids over for playdates, conquer his debilitating fear of water, and finally sleep in his own bed with the puppy’s paws draped across his small chest. And when Cowboy turns out to need her new family as much as they need her, they discover just how much she has taught them about devotion, loyalty, and never giving up. Sometimes it’s what you don’t know to hope for that saves you. For Monica and Wills, salvation came in the form of a puppy with pale blond fur, chocolate brown eyes, a fondness for chewing the crotch out of underpants, and a limitless capacity for love.

Monica Holloway

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