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Heartbroken

Field Notes on a Constant Condition

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About this listen

 Imbued with longing, erudition and hard-earned wisdom, Heartbroken dares to delve into a universal ordeal—perhaps the one that makes us the most human of all.

When Laura Pratt’s long-distance partner of six years tells her “it’s over” at a busy downtown train station, she is sent reeling, the breakup coming out of the blue. He, meanwhile, closes himself off, refusing to acknowledge Laura and her requests for explanation.

In the following days, months and then years, Laura struggles to make sense of this sudden ending, alone and filled with questions. A journalist, she seeks to understand the freefall that is heartbreak and how so many before her survived it, drawing on forces across time and form, and uncovers literary, philosophical, scientific and psychological accounts of the mysterious alchemy of how we human beings fall in love in the first place, and why, when it ends, some of us take longer to get over it, or never do. She weaves this background of cultural history with her own bracing story of passionate love and its loss, and offers some hope for arriving—changed, broadened, grateful—on the other side. Emotions Grief & Loss Love, Dating & Attraction Personal Development Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Relationships
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This is a fascinating book, a very personal study of a relationship breakdown and the despair of being ghosted. I did not find the author’s voice an easy listen. It does hold you as you really want to know if her lover will ever respond to the, what some might term, harassment of the emails, texts & the gifts that the author persists in sending to her ex for longer than the 6 years that their relationship lasted.
I can relate to this - her longing to reconnect and I did enjoy her references to literature and psychological studies of heartbreak but I found one thing disingenuous; throughout the book the author states that her ex never contacted her after saying they were over but in the final chapters we learn that there was in fact an email from him to her shortly after he split that she says she has only read once. She quotes many of his love notes but we don’t get to hear the full content of this final email. Perhaps if we knew what he wrote we’d learn more of his feelings; perhaps if she reread it she’d understand more.
I feel the problem with this book is that it’s the author’s view of her experience and it’s written without her ex’s permission or input so you are left feeling uneasy and that you’ve intruded on their privacy.
Wishing them both peace.

Fascinating study of a breakup.

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