BUILDING A HAPPY MARRIAGE: A Guide for Engaged Girls and Young Wives

Marriage viewed in its proper perspective as a ""true vocation and a great work to be accomplished"" is the recurring theme of Building a Happy Marriage. Pierre Dufoyer, the pen name of a prominent Brussels' marriage counselor, asserts that there are dozens of fine books on the moral and spiritual nature of marriage available today. Consequently, he treats the subject from a psychological viewpoint stressing the great differences between men and women in their approach to love, courtship and marriage. Conjugal love, according to the author, is not born of pure instinct but is a love arising from choice. As a result it is far more fragile than parental love, and can only be kept alive by the woman who is deeply convinced that the creation of a happy home and motherhood constitute both an obligation to which she is bound in conscience and the fulfillment of her mission in life. Women must put as much clear-sighted intelligence, firm determination and genuine conscientiousness into marriage as they put fervor or feeling. Dr. Dufoyer emphasizes that a young wife must understand that a husband's life is oriented to a career and to a larger world, and that marriage can't possibly ever be his first preoccupation. Mutual understanding, mutual adaptation to the viewpoint of the other and mutual giving constitute the basis for a permanently happy conjugal relationship. The wisdom and common sense evident in every page of Building a Happy Marriage should help any young woman fortunate enough to read it in building one of her own.