Walker describes her and husband's day-to-day life from their first foreclosure notice to the day they move out, including interactions with lenders, phone calls to elected officials and awkward looks across the office. She also recounts the pressures on her marriage and her own stress-induced illness, along with generous support from family and friends. A positive attitude is Walker's guiding principle and the core of her advice of for others facing financial hardship. Even after losing everything, she still believes she's better off because of it. "The biggest triumph for me," Walker writes, "is really getting that we don't need money and stuff to make us happy. We just need each other and a good dose of perspective." The book is adapted from Walker's blog of the same title, with additional stories, details and insight. It is published as an ebook by Outpost19 and is available at major online booksellers.
Recessionwire co-founder Sara Clemence describes the book this way: "Stephanie Walker writes about tough experiences with honesty, humor and a good dose of optimism. Her story is a window on a downturn that's affected millions of Americans - for worse, but also sometimes for better. There are life lessons in here for all of us." Dick Gordon, host of American Public Media's The Story, offers this response: "Stephanie Walker has the wit to transform the shame and anxiety of foreclosure into a genuine human adventure. It's a rare storyteller who can endure the soul-shaking loss of a home, and the concurrent stress on relationships, and see through that - one's higher priorities in life. Stephanie does this with the kind of humor and personal insight that challenges the fierce attachment that we have to bricks and boards, and she leads us to a new understanding of what's really important as 'home.'"
Walkers currently lives in Chicago with her husband and their son. She is also a playwright with several produced works, including The Car Plays at Moving Arts/Radar in Los Angeles earlier this year. Her play, American Home, a recounting of the impact of foreclosures on America, was recently named winner of Chicago's American Blues Theater's Blue Ink Award for Playwriting.
