"There are those who
believe it is simple selfishness that leads people to divorce.
For those of us who have lived it, it's hard to see why anyone
would rip out their veins for some immature or narcissistic desire
to get what they want, because that is what it feels like."
Writing in a style that
is both piercingly honest and profoundly moving, Wendy
Swallow, in her gripping memoir of a divorce unfolding,
traces the arc of her marriage to a complex man ten years her
senior. She looks into her own heart and at her own childhood
and young adulthood as a way of understanding the relationship
and its ultimate breakdown. She also examines her struggle to
balance her burgeoning career and the demands of motherhood. And
then she writes of divorce: the hopeful fantasies she conjured
while still in her marriage, as well as the harsh realities she
faced when she and her husband finally separated.
Featured on NPR's
Fresh Air with Terry Gross, the CBS
Early Show, and in Readers' Digest
and other national magazines, Swallow's memoir illuminates–
with heartbreaking candor--the overwhelming financial and emotional
stresses of divorce. "People say marriages break up," writes Swallow,
"but mine finally broke down." She writes too, however, of the
joys of independence and renewal. Her journey through divorce's
rough terrain–and the triumphant reconstruction of her life
after divorce–offer encouragement and inspiration to anyone
struggling with a marriage.
