READ THIS: The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What it Really Takes to Stay Married By Iris Krasnow Sponsored by Ellen Christine Millinery
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Life is one interesting journey, and when you read this fascinating book by Iris Krasnow, you'll see just how interesting it can be. If you have an open mind and a curiosity about life, this is the book for you. From each story, Iris creatively comments on both the situation and her own take on it...and she ought to know as she has been married for many years. Her personal anecdotes are so fun and we like that her cats are named TJ and Maxx. We're not going to make any kinds of moral comments on this book, however, we will say that we bet that marriage is not a one-size-fits-all idea or practice and if you are stuck in a rut you may get some great ideas from this work.
This book will entertain you, inspire you, and make you appreciate your own life and the choices you've made in a whole new way. Iris says: "My goal is to inspire all wives to be authentic and bold, and to have more fun." That may mean taking a vacation in Italy, and leaving your husband behind...because he wants to do something hideous like camping or the like. The bottom line: people are better people to any kind of relationship, not only a marriage, if they bring their own personality to the table and do not lose themselves in the bigger relationship. Iris says she used to be hot, happening and alive. From the sounds of it, she still is because she has a balanced life. And we also like how her name is almost Irish....
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“I love this aging marriage of mine, that is when I don’t detest it.” ―Iris Krasnow in The Secret Lives of Wives Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the closed doors of a successful marriage? How those happy couples make it look so easy? In THE SECRET LIVES OF WIVES: Women Share What it Really Takes to Stay Married (Gotham Books, October 3, 2011; $26) bestselling author Iris Krasnow pulls back the curtain and reveals shocking and uncensored real-life confessions of women who have stayed married for the long haul. Krasnow, a wife of 23 years, and the more than 200 women she interviewed ― married anywhere from 15-70 years ― challenge the traditional way of thinking about what it takes to achieve “happily-ever-after” and invite women to define for themselves what constitutes a satisfying relationship. “There is no gold standard of what a marriage should be and no perfect marriage toward which to aspire,” writes Krasnow. “No one even has to get married . . . More than five million unmarried couples live together in the United States, nearly eight times as many as in 1970. Those of us who followed the mainstream and went for the big crowd and the big dress are realizing, as we inch toward silver and golden anniversaries, that it is individual ingenuity and not pack mentality that fuels a marriage in the long run.” THE SECRET LIVES OF WIVES will inspire any woman who is hungry for marital commitment and reinvention. Yes, women can have it both ways: a committed, happy marriage and adventures in uncharted territory. While some women stay sane in their marriages by having weekly wine-and-whine girl’s nights out or resume old hobbies they abandoned once they had kids—swimming, painting, horseback riding—others get a bit more creative. Don’t be surprised if your “’happily married’ neighbor is spicing things up by regularly going out on dates with ‘the one who got away’ or convincing her husband to join her in sleeping with other couples. “Playing mahjong with the girls may be all the added oomph [some wives] need. Others may crave a spot of mischief. Who are we to judge? A stolen kiss can go a long way and a secret is different than a lie.”The raw and provocative voices in THE SECRET LIVES OF WIVES will open your eyes and show you that a rough patch doesn’t mean your marriage has to end. “This is a survival guide for those of us at a gear shift in our marriages,” writes Krasnow. “We’ve survived the eight-year mark, or the fifteen-year mark, or are inching toward the twenty-five-year anniversary and beyond. We are resigned to the fact that a husband can be annoying, cloying, even boring. We also know that he is our partner in a sad, happy, and complicated history that took years of sweat and tears and flinging a dish here or there to achieve.” Tactics on how to stay married vary from wife to wife, but Krasnow’s unifying core principle is this: “create a marriage that operates on many tracks - integrating friendships with both sexes, work we are passionate about, and new experiences and skills that keep us growing at every age.” A good wine cellar helps too. THE SECRET LIVES OF WIVES is fresh, fun, honest, and bold, and crashes fairytale dreams of happily ever after. With page after page of riveting, real-life examples, Krasnow shows us that marriage hardly guarantees a perfect life, but that the institution does provide a grounding foundation and force that allows a wife to individually soar. Once a woman realizes that she can’t get it all from one person in one place, she’s free to build her extraordinary life, complemented by her ordinary marriage. THE SECRET LIVES OF WIVES: Women Share What it Really Takes to Stay Married Iris Krasnow Gotham Books |October 2011 | $26.00 | ISBN: 9781592406807 www.iriskrasnow.com
About Iris Krasnow: Iris Krasnow is the author of the New York Times bestseller Surrendering to Marriage, as well as Surrendering to Motherhood, Surrendering to Yourself, and I Am My Mother’s Daughter. She has appeared on numerous national shows, ranging from Oprah and Good Morning America to All Things Considered. She lives in Maryland with her husband and four sons.
About Gotham Books:Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), was launched in 2003 by industry veteran William Shinker. Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is one of the leading U.S. adult and children’s trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Gotham Books, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin, Penguin Press, Philomel, Riverhead Books, and Viking, among others. Penguin Group is owned by Pearson plc, the international media group.
