The former Muswellbrook resident has turned a major setback into a rare opportunity.

And, the result is her first book, In Sickness, In Health and In Jail: What happened when my husband unexpectedly went to prison for two years. 

After more than a decade of marriage, Mrs Jacob’s life looked as perfect as the roses perched above her white picket fence.

The nice house in the western suburbs of Sydney, two great kids and a good husband, Patrick; she had it all.

However, her life took an unforeseen detour when her seemingly saintly partner was jailed for two years.

The charge: selling and possessing prohibited weapons – a slingshot, two crossbows and an unregistered riffle.

In Sickness, In Health and In Jail follows Mrs Jacob’s funny, moving and insightful journey as she navigates single parenthood, prison visitations and nosy neighbours.

“I found writing about the situation was cathartic,” she admitted.

“To be honest, we were shocked by the length of the sentence.

“My book chronicles the grief of the family left behind, the stigma and the conversational minefields of Patrick’s whereabouts, as well as the logistical problems of making a baby sibling for our two children, and why it’s not appropriate to tell people that their dad’s in jail.

“It actually connected me back to the area where I grew up [Muswellbrook].

“We were open with our children from the beginning so the kids brought a lot of humour to the book, as well as observations which were funny.

“For instance, my daughter asked: Why did you marry dad?

“I replied: Well, over time, I got to know him and he made me laugh; I knew deep down that, even though we were really different, he was a good person.

“Without skipping a beat, she said: He’s not that good, he’s in jail.

“Since then, my daughter has threatened to write a book about me when she’s older,” Mrs Jacob added with a laugh.

“You don’t know what sort of reaction you’ll get [to a topic like this] but people have been really supportive.”

Mrs Jacob, an experienced journalist and scriptwriter, still has strong ties to Muswellbrook – and the Upper Hunter.

She’ll return on September 30 as a guest speaker at Friday@Five at Hunter Belle Cheese.

Tickets for the function are $17, which includes wine/juice, cheese/finger food, tea/coffee and slice.

To attend, RSVP to Leonie O’Keefe on 6543 4348 by Thursday, September 29.

Afterwards, there are scheduled appearances at Denman library (3pm, October 20), Muswellbrook library (6pm, October 20) and Singleton library (11am, October 22).

“I’m looking forward to it,” Mrs Jacob said.

“After growing up in Muswellbrook, I talk about the area in the book.

“In fact, my parents, cousins and friends still live in town.

“Although I’m a regular visitor to the region, it’s good to come ‘home’.”