advanced praise

"Few have picked up the pieces of broken love with more élan than Claire McCloud, divorce-casualty, struggling mom, and a let-it-all-hang-out iconoclast who will shock and delight you...shaping so iridescent a tale from divorce's dark matter takes a special writing gene, and evidently, Anastasia Royal has whole strands of it." -- Arthur Plotnik, author of Spunk & Bite: A Writer’s Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style

"Calling Anastasia Royal’s stunning and supple roman a clef a “first novel” is like calling the Hope diamond a shiny little rock. As savage and sharp as it is lovely, with as many facets as life itself, Undoing I Do is a perfect gem of a book. Told with a surgeon’s eye for detail, the narrative employs all manner of prose and poetry to slice through the telling episodes of a marriage coming undone. It tackles big themes, and at times put me in mind of Nabokov’s Pale Fire, but the things that linger most are the tiny sensual details. A new, important voice in literature is born." --Jay Bonansinga, national bestselling author of Twisted, Frozen and The Sinking of Eastland

"As with every unhappy family, every unhappy marriage is unhappy in its own way, and Anastasia Royal has given us splendidly unhappy marriage. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Undoing I Do is ultimately an uplifting tale of the determination and strength of an indomitable woman's spirit." --Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of An Almost Perfect Moment

"Undoing I Do is an astounding, brilliant and unforgettable story that introduced me to characters I will never forget. No short blurb can do justice to the poetry, the passion, the rage and the humor of this novel that had me laughing out loud one moment and weeping the next. Welcome first-time novelist Anastasia Royal to the front ranks of American story tellers." --John D. Callaway, Host and Senior Editor of WTTW's Chicago Stories program, professional journalist for 45 years, and winner of the Peabody Award and twelve Emmys

“This book shines a harsh but honest light on the reality and complexity of divorce and its aftermath…it is a brave and brutal exposition of the often untold truth that divorce is not just the end of a marriage; it is the end of an identity and of a shared and familiar life. For some people, this end brings immediate freedom and the birth of a new life. For Claire McCloud, as for countless post-decree mothers and fathers, this new life can take years to divine and create – involving the slow and painful unraveling of lives that were conjoined once upon an altar. --Brigitte Bell, Mediator/Divorce Attorney Meditation, Ltd.