Molly Howe’s “A Good Apology Four Steps to Make Things Right” is an incredible resource for me as a therapist, husband, friend, father, and entrepreneur. Molly’s detailed stories, power-packed principles, and practical tools will have an incredible impact on all my relationships and will have a powerful effect for decades to come! An excellent read!

Molly Howes is an excellent writer/researcher, and coming from one who doesn't generally enjoy the Self Help Genre, that really means a lot. I love the variety of apology examples presented here, from the historical to the global and contemporary, and also those the author has come across in her work as a therapist. The depth to which Howes gets into this subject is fascinating, the differences between guilt, shame, contrition, regret, and atonement and encompassing narratives from Restorative Justice programs and the ways individual white Americans can contribute to righting the wrongs of our racial past are strokes of brilliance. Included is a four-step guide to the apology process, with plenty of great examples of good ones to emulate and bad ones to avoid.

I requested this ARC before my marriage fell apart, and reading this in the midst of my own personal upheaval has been gut-wrenching, but I also have found it extremely productive. Along with great advice for making an effective apology that will benefit you and your victim and so many more, there is also plenty of helpful information to identify circumstances that are not conducive to attempting an apology. Like when he cheats on you after 18 years and two children, and then blames you for making him unhappy in his marriage.