The secret currency of love : the unabashed truth about women, money, and relationships ; an anthology of personal essays

Money issues are the number one cause of problems in relationships. Is money the root of all evil, is it true that money can't buy love? Hilary Black has commissioned original essays from top women writers on the subject of money and relationships and the outcome is an honest, often shocking, sometimes funny and poignant portrait of revelations by women on the very delicate nature of love and money. This collection will spark debate and raise eyebrows across generations. Money. It affects us all, so why is it so difficult to discuss? Even as daily headlines broadcast ever more alarming news about the fate of the American economy, few people are willing to acknowledge the enormous impact that personal finance has on their private affairs. Until now.In this compelling anthology of original essays, some of the country's most respected women writers reveal their deepest feelings about money and how it affects their most intimate relationships — with parents, children, spouses, siblings, and ultimately with themselves. They examine the childhood experiences that set up lifelong, and sometimes self-destructive, financial habits. And they divulge how all the intangibles — romance, status, power, security — become tangled up in their financial lives.The essays in these pages are written from many different perspectives: a single woman trying to reconcile feminism with a secret desire to be supported by a man; a wife with radically different spending habits from her husband's; a divorcee who has become the family's chief breadwinner; a single mother struggling to make ends meet. They also explore complicated social issues. Sheri Holman (The Dress Lodger) reveals how she fell in love with a homeless drug addict. Leslie Bennetts (The Feminine Mistake) weighs the social and emotional costs of giving her children a private-school education among the super-rich. Bliss Broyard (One Drop) ruminates on the intricacies of maintaining friendships with wealthier friends. And Amy Cohen (The Late Bloomer's Revolution) considers the price — financial and otherwise — of having a child on her own. Witty, nuanced, and startlingly intimate, The Secret Currency of Love offers a transformative look at the delicate nature of love and money. This riveting collection will spark debate by inspiring readers to reexamine their own emotional connection to their finances. As Americans struggle to make rational choices in a frightening economy, these brave, revealing essays by some of today's most esteemed writers provide insight into how a modern generation of women is defining itself in the new social economy. An Anthology Of Original Essays Explores The Complicated And Powerful Connection Between Love And Money In America, In A Volume That Includes Contributions By Such Writers As Kim Barnes, Lori Gottlieb, And Kathryn Harrison. Money And Romance. The Secret Economy Of Women / Karen Karbo -- Rescue Mission / Sheri Holman -- For Richer Or For Poorer / Marisa Belger -- A Tale Of Two Bank Accounts / Ann Hood -- Love And The Bottom Line / Joni Evans -- The Wages Of Love / Lucy Kaylin -- Toolbelts, Not Tuxes / Abby Ellin -- How I Left It / Marnie Hanel -- The Lost Lexus / Melanie Thernstrom -- Money And Family -- Severance / Jennifer Wolf Perrine -- Count The Ways / Kathryn Harrison -- The Miser / Amy Sohn -- Money Matters / Julia Glass -- My Brother's Keeper / Yolonda Lawrence -- Planned Parenthood / Lori Gottlieb -- The Price Of Admission / Leslie Bennetts -- The Inheritance / Dani Shapiro -- 'til Debt Do Us Part / Rebecca Johnson -- Who's Your Daddy? / Amy Cohen -- Letter To My Oldest Son / Susanna Sonnenberg -- Money And Self -- Ignorance Is Bliss / Laurie Abraham -- The Wages Of Sin : A Personal History Of Economics / Kim Barnes -- Keeping Up Appearances / J. Courtney Sullivan -- The Perils Of The Privileged Poor / Laura Fraser -- Rich Little Poor Girl / Bliss Broyard -- Disco, Motherhood, And The Art Of Survival / Veronica Chambers -- My So-called Financial Life / Rebecca Traister. Edited By Hilary Black. Sex & The City meets The Wall Street Journal ....Juicy, smart, dramatic and insightfulan addictive read. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties In The Secret Currency of Love, edited by Hilary Black, acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning women writers explore the fraught and powerful connections between love and money.As featured on the "Today Show"--withcontributions by Karen Karbo, Kathryn Harrison,Lori Gottlieb, Julia Glass, Rebecca Traister, Dani Shapiro, Amy Sohn, and others-- The Secret Currency of Love takes an unabashed look at relationships through the often-distorting lens of finance. As Elle magazine informs us, All the bases are covered here, from the hard lessons women learn (and impart) to the inextricability of romance and cold hard cash. This anthology of original essays by bestselling, award-winning writers explores the fraught and powerful connection between two of the most driving forces in women's lives love and money.. Title from PDF title page (viewed on Mar. 3, 2009).