A great "philosopher" once said "trying to understand women is like trying to smell the color 9." But the fact is, men can understand women to their great benefit. All they need is the right teacher. And arguably there is no better teacher than John Gottman, PhD, a world-renowned relationships researcher and author of the bestselling 7 principles of Making Marriage Work. His new book, written with wife Julie Gottman, a clinical psychologist, and Doug Abrams and Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, is based on 40 years of scientific study, much of it gleaned from the Gottman's popular couple's workshops and the "love lab" at the University of Washington. It's written primarily for men because new research suggeststhat it is the man in a relationship who wields the most influence to make it great or screw it up beyond repair.

'Lara Love Hardin shares compelling and important truths in her beautifully told personal story.' PIPER KERMAN, author of the no. 1 New York Times bestseller Orange is the New Black 'Thrilling, funny, heart-breaking and moving. I'll return to this book when I need to be reminded of the power of the human spirit.' DAVID SHEFF, author of the no. 1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Boy 'Hardin is an aptly named genius with a heart of gold' ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU 'Compelling and timely' BRYAN STEVENSON, author of the New York Times bestseller Just Mercy 'A hilarious and heart-breaking confession that will not let you go until it is done - and then it will haunt you.' LORI GOTTLIEB, author of the New York Times Bestseller, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone Reading was her first addiction; but then came opiates. And so, despite the appearances of a perfect picket fence life, Lara steals credit cards and goes through people's mail, raiding identities to sustain her addiction until eventually she finds herself in a Californian prison. She has to get to grip quickly with life behind bars. She doesn't know the street world of Santa Cruz so isn't sure who to be afraid of, defer to, or lord above - but she does know how to pretend. Within weeks, she understands every gang and all the prison slang, and is doling out advice and writing letters for the other girls in prison. She finds she has a talent for writing under the guise of others, for absolute empathy with them. Before long she's earned herself a nickname: 'Mama Love'. The Many Lives of Mama Love is a beautiful, page-turning memoir about a powerful, redemptive journey with a surprising final act. It's about reaching rock bottom and clambering back up; about healing, shame and self-forgiveness, and about writing yourself a new path, with a different destiny.

'Lara Love Hardin shares compelling and important truths in her beautifully told personal story.' PIPER KERMAN, author of the no. 1 New York Times bestseller Orange is the New Black 'Thrilling, funny, heartbreaking and moving. I'll return to this book when I need to be reminded of the power of the human spirit.' DAVID SHEFF, author of the no. 1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Boy 'Compelling and timely' BRYAN STEVENSON, author of the New York Times bestseller Just Mercy The Neighbour From Hell is the astonishing tale of Lara's descent from middle class soccer mum with an enviable lifestyle, beautiful home and family to an opiate addict and identity thief. Convicted of 32 felonies, her children are taken away and she is placed in a local jail. In this strange and frightening new world, she has to get grips with life behind bars. Lara becomes known in prison as Mama Love. She helps the women around her get to grips with their own troubles, writes letters for them, acts as an advocate, and comforts them in their darkest moments. Soon she climbs the jailhouse social ladder to become 'the shot caller' showing that jailhouse politics and PTA politics are not that different. Through her incarceration, Lara reveals a world where makeshift furniture is made from tampon boxes and snicker bars are currency, a world of brutal corruption and abuse, and of surprising humanity and tenderness. Her story gives us a rare glimpse into the lives of the women in jail she spent time with and the very real challenges they, and she, faced trying to make it out of prison, regain custody of their children and start life afresh.