The Reading Bud

Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Wendy Swift for her latest release, A Dream Life.

Book: A Dream Life
Author: Wendy Swift
Publication Date: 12 May 2026
Publisher: Vine Leaves Press
Pages: 296
Genre: Memoir
Available Formats: e-book & Paperback
For Readers who Enjoyed: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, The End of Normal by Stephanie Madoff Mack, & A Beautiful, Terrible Thing by Jen Waite

About the Book

When Wendy Swift discovers a letter demanding nearly two million dollars in restitution from her attorney husband, she realizes that her life as a suburban stay-at-home mother has been built on illusion. Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, she believed the quintessential dream life she shared with her husband and three daughters was secure and enduring. A Dream Life traces Swift’s search for validation through marriage, motherhood, and social mobility, and the unraveling that follows.

After her husband begins his incarceration in the 1990s, Swift becomes solely responsible for supporting her three young daughters as they navigate loss, shame, and uncertainty. Her path forward is uneven and hard-won, revealing resilience, reflection, and growth, as well as the perils of blind materialism.

This powerful memoir illuminates the complex challenges families face when confronted with addiction, mental illness, and incarceration. Swift blends unflinching truth-telling with wry self-reflection, awakening readers to the consequences of denial and the restorative power of self-possession. A Dream Life ultimately affirms that anyone can unknowingly fall prey to false beliefs, but once the truth is revealed and the fear of dislocation and upheaval is faced, renewal and strength can emerge.

You can find A Dream Life here:
Amazon | Goodreads | Vine and Leaves Press

About The Author

Wendy Swift

Wendy Swift is the author of a memoir, A Dream Life, as well as essays published in HuffPost, Memoir Magazine, Grub Street Literary Magazine, Barely South Review, Yellow Arrow Journal, Brevity Blog and Lonesome Press. In 2006, Swift earned the Press Club of Long Island Award for her essay “Ritter’s Pond,” and in 2022, she earned Honorable Mention from the Connecticut Press Club for “The Sentencing.” In addition, Swift is a mentor with We Are Not Numbers, a writing platform for Palestinian writers. Swift serves as a fiction reader for Mud Season Review. She lives in Connecticut and when she is not writing or thinking about writing, she is walking wooded trails with her hound, Lulu.

You can find author Swift here:
Website | Instagram | Facebook

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