The Secret Lives Of Of Wives (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
This book was hard to read. The first half of the book is all the author's perspective which was hard for me for a good few reasons. If u have ever been divorced, if you are gay, if you are going through a divorce if you have been married multiple times, if you don't have the money to spend on vacations apart every year... Then you are going to feel very talked down to in this book, at least by the author, which is def. how I felt. The stories from the interviews were interesting but once again they were fairly depressing more about surviving then being happy. Added to the fact that all the ladies interviewed wired extremely wealthy and had the means to do things like run away to France ever summer. There was one story where the girl was not wealthy and it was where she was in a physically, mentally and spiritually abusive marriage for 10 years that, for her and her child's safety she should have left. The stories were interesting but all in all an annoying author with. A small range of view. I picked up this book accidentally because it had a title that was similar to another book I was looking for, but it sounded interesting so I read it. Krasnow makes some good points: Keep up with your own interests and don't expect your spouse to provide happiness for you, and you will have a happier marriage. OK. But I thought it would be insights from a number of different women, which it sort of does, but I began to think almost all of these women are upper-class, white women whom Krasnow knows, rather than a wide spectrum of women. And every chapter begins with pages upon pages of what felt to me like self-congratulatory autobiographical text about Krasnow's life. She has four boys who are grown up and SOOOO handsome! Well, good for her, but as a mother of one who would have liked to have more children but couldn't, I started to wonder why so much emphasis was placed on having a lot of kids, and as a writer and reader, I started to wish these stories were deeper and more interesting. Also, what's with the Twilight-esque cover photo?
What do You think about The Secret Lives Of Of Wives (2011)?
Definitely worth reading for the perspective it affords. Enjoyed it.
—ajay
I always enjoy Krasnow's books. journalistic and memoirish.
—Wafa
Some really interesting stories here.
—c22holmes06
