MARRIED PEOPLE: Staying Together in the Age of Divorce

by Francine Klagsbrun ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1985

That nearly half the marriages in the US fail has given rise to many studies that focus on why failed marriages fail. Journalist Klagsbrun looks into the other end of the telescope to see what can be learned from the other half that don't. It is a worthwhile effort. The author set out to determine the qualities that many successful marriages share. She chose 87 couples who had been married at least 15 years, a small number married for less. Her investigation consisted mostly of interviews with the partners. Joint sessions lasted four to five hours and there were often additional interviews with each partner alone. Klagsbrun ""posed open-ended questions about feeling and closeness; about who makes decisions; about sex and extramarital sex; about children, parents and in-laws; about fighting and making up and about staying married. ""An accomplished, trust-inspiring interviewer, she was able to draw out much interesting material. Well edited, each unique. She also brings in lessons learned from her own long marriage. Klagsbrun skillfully weaves the interviews and her own marriage into strands that form significant themes common to successful marriages: an ability to live with the unchangeable (meaning unresolved conflicts) and trust (a word she says the interviewees used more often than ""love""). This is a soft-spoken, wise book with much of value to say to anyone planning to be married, who is married, who is contemplating divorce, or who is divorced and contemplating getting married again.

Pub Date: July 1, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bantam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION