Unliving the Dream is about Alex a wife, mother, career woman and entrepreneur who appears to have it all. That is until one day, while on a business trip, her husband James tells her he wants to take a break. Shortly thereafter, she discovers he has been having an affair with an employee, a person she called friend.

Alex now has to rethink her life and is left to deal with the aftermath of an unfaithful husband and a divorce. This includes dealing with two children, on her own, who are left hurt and confused by what they consider to be a betrayal by their father. Lily, the older of Alex’s two children, has a particularly hard time. She is very anger at her father and starts down a destructive path that could destroy her life before it has even begun.

During all this turmoil at home, Alex gets no support from James. He has become an absentee father who would rather take a romantic trip with his girlfriend than be a dad for his kids. In addition, James has become verbally abusive towards Alex at their work place. He constantly berets and belittles Alex even in front of employees. Through all of this Alex puts on a brave face and tries to stay calm. She feels like she has to support both her children and her employees.

For Alex it is a long road to healing. I believe this is because she concentrates so hard on everyone else that she forgets about herself. All during the story I keep thinking she needs to tell James where to get off. A couple of times I would have loved to tell her to wake up and smell the roses. Alex’s friends finally point out to her what the reader has known for a long time…. that James is an abuser and a scum bag. It is at this point that Alex finally is able to move on.

The first two thirds of the book went really fast. Mainly because of all the drama revolving around James and Lilly. Once that is resolved things slowed down and I had to work to get through the remainder of the story. All-in-all I still enjoyed. The author did a good job of getting us inside the head of Alex to understand all the complex feelings she was having behind the brave face she wore. In addition, the story is a very realistic view of what can happen after a divorce and reminder to all that life does not always turn out as we have planned.

This book will appeal to anyone who likes women’s fiction especially stories like this where the character rises above adversity with the calm and determination of Alex.

I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Unliving the Dream is the grown-up version of Eat, Pray, Love with a feel much like Carol Wall’s Mr. Owita’s Guide to Gardening. What happens when life gets ripped apart at the seams and you’ve not only got to heal yourself but you’ve also got two of your pre-teen babies to take care of? And not just in feed and house but to nurture their soul and guard their happiness against the two-timing low down dirty scoundrel that’s your ex AND current business partner? Sandra Vischer shows us with emotional clarity, humor and compassionate vulnerability just how hard and rewarding that journey can be. We follow Alex’s story as she tackles each of the hurdles of unliving the American dream with the aplomb and lady-like demeanor of Alicia Florrick in CBS’s The Good Wife, while keeping humor and hope close by. A definite read for any ex, but a real soul shaking reminder for any of our sex to not take life too seriously, accept help where you can and remember to nurture your own soul. Five stars. ( )