Innocent Spouse: A Memoir

About this book

What would you do if just weeks after your spouses sudden death you found out he was keeping secrets? Big secrets. Secrets that could cost you millions of dollarsand brand you as a criminal. Innocent Spouse is an eye-opening memoir that asks a provocative and disturbing question: Is it possible to really know and trust someone even your spouse? Carol Ross Joynt was a successful television producer in Washington D.C. Her husband Howard owned Nathans a legendary restaurant in Georgetown. From an outsiders perspective Carol and Howard lived a fairy-tale lifespending weekends at their Chesapeake Bay estate rubbing shoulders with New Yorks and Washingtons elite and raising their beloved son Spencer. But everything changed with Howards sudden death when Spencer was only five years old. Like any widow Carol was devastated because she lost the love of her life and her sons father. But soon Carol had much more to cope with than her grief and new life as a single parent. As she was forced to take over her familys legal and financial responsibilities as well as run Howards restaurant on her own Carol discovered that her husband had secrets and one of them an almost $3 million debt to the IRS threatened to derail her entire life. And even though Carol didnt know anything about the tax fraudfinances had always been Howards departmentno one cared. As his surviving spouse legally Carol was responsible. As Carol picks up the pieces of her fractured life and copes with her sadness and anger she learns to become something shed never been before: self-sufficient. Poignant eye-opening and at times heartbreaking Innocent Spouse is ultimately an inspiring story of strength and newfound independence in the face of loss and betrayal.