What’s it like to be the partner of a writer? A new book explores the handholding and psychological propping-up required. “What makes the arrangement work, or not work, and why? How does life at home contribute to the creative process? What is the cost of a masterpiece on a caring relationship? All this mollycoddling of someone who, after all, could just as easily be playing solitaire behind that closed door as writing, might sound excessive, but it’s by no means an exception.”