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The Husbands and Wives Club: A Year in the Life of a Couples Therapy Group Audiobook
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(2.97) - 157 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Starting in spring 2006, journalist Laurie Abraham sat in with five troubled couples as they underwent the searing process of group marriage therapy. Published as "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" the resulting article generated intense reader response. While space limitations allowed Abraham to focus only on one couple in her article, this book, which grew out of it and the reaction it inspired, tells the moving, fascinating story of all five.
Writing with the narrative dexterity of a great novelist, Abraham recounts the travails, triumphs, and reversals that beset the five couples as they work with their therapist—and each other—to find out whether they can attain the satisfaction in marriage they originally sought. At times wrenching, at times inspiring, the sessions bring out the long-hidden resentments, misunderstandings, unmet desires, and unspoken needs that bedevil many an imperiled couple. At the same time, these encounters provide road maps to reconciliation and revival that can be used by anyone in a relationship. Along the way, the author draws on her explorations of philosophy and literature, on Freudian theory and modern science, to decode the patterns and habits that suggest whether a troubled marriage will survive or die. The fact that the five couples are ultimately successful makes this not only an important look at the state of marital dysfunction in America today but a reaffirmation of the enduring bonds of love.
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"very interesting for mental health professionals. Others in different careers but interested in this field may like it too. I got engaged with the couples' stories, but then enjoyed the author's summary of and opinion on the hx of marital therapy."
— Sharonb (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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Merlington portrays scenes of long-hidden childhood hurts and marital resentments, awkward attempts to right power struggles, and angry needs for intimacy. Intense and brutally honest revelations about sex, love, and money are sometimes uncomfortable and upsetting, sometimes inspiring and uplifting, always illuminating.
— AudioFile -
“Abraham skillfully weaves increasingly fascinating sessions of a couples therapy group with meticulous research about love, marriage, therapy, and humanity.”
— Cathi Hanauer, New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Ruin -
"The Husbands and Wives Club is that rare work of nonfiction that reads like a really good novel—it’s rich in character, drama, and emotional suspense.”
— Tom Perrotta, New York Times bestselling author of Little Children -
“Merlington portrays scenes of long-hidden childhood hurts and marital resentments, awkward attempts to right power struggles, and angry needs for intimacy. Intense and brutally honest revelations about sex, love, and money are sometimes uncomfortable and upsetting, sometimes inspiring and uplifting, always illuminating.”
— AudioFile -
“This is one of the smartest and most candid books on marriage I know.”
— Phyllis Rose, author of Parallel Lives
The Husbands and Wives Club Listener Reviews
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" This book in non fiction and the author follows five couples struggling with the normal challenges including money sex and power that couples face in a marriage. I found listening to their experiences helpful and inspiring. There are no easy answers to keep marriages evolving. It made me think about think more deeply about my own interactions. I do recommend this book. "
— Shifra, 2/2/2014 -
" For me, this book was too much about the history of different couples therapy theories and not enough about the couples actually in the group. An attempt was made at character development, but, really more from a reporting eye than a plot device to make the story richer, deeper. "
— Dawn, 1/12/2014 -
" Oh man. This look inside a couples therapy group was so fascinating, I wished Abraham hadn't spent any time on theories about marriage. All I wanted was to know more about these people! "
— Leila, 12/17/2013 -
" Other people's bad marriages are like car accidents. You can't help but stare but it makes you feel bad. "
— Ayelet, 12/14/2013 -
" Liked the author and the honesty in the book. "
— Juggleandhope, 12/1/2013 -
" Ditto this comment "Couldn't finish it. I thought it would be something I really liked, but it was very bland and hard for me to remember each couples' stories. I felt like I needed to finish it, but was just wasting my time when there are so many other books awaiting me." "
— Arla, 12/1/2013 -
" No matter how dysfunctional your marriage, someone else's is more fucked up. So, this was a feel-good read! "
— Susan, 11/4/2013 -
" The psychobabble sometimes got in the way of the narrative flow, and the conclusions seemed a bit to "easy" for me, but I enjoyed seeing the problems and progress of these couples. "
— Elaine, 10/9/2013 -
" This is not a light read because it has a lot of psychology mixed in between the sessions. I guess I was hoping it was going to be juicier. My M.S. is in Counseling Psychology so this was more like partial reading for class. "
— Sara, 6/26/2013 -
" I found this book to be interesting in that the author wove references to a wide variety of therapeutic frameworks. It made me want to find the other books that she briefly touched upon to find out more. "
— Emily, 5/10/2013 -
" More clinical than I expected. "
— Allison, 5/13/2012 -
" Couldn't finish it. I thought it would be something I really liked, but it was very bland and hard for me to remember each couples' stories. I felt like I needed to finish it, but was just wasting my time when there are so many other books awaiting me. "
— Kelsi, 9/28/2011 -
" Kind of boring. I was surprised to not like it, because I am the world's nosiest person. "
— Mimi, 3/8/2011 -
" Couldn't finish. Realized I wasn't interested in learning about other people's marriage troubles. I didn't know this before I tried, but it's incredibly hard for marriage problems to be interesting in any way. "
— Rachael, 1/3/2011 -
" Sometimes I felt like a voyeur reading about the trials and mishaps of various married couples in group therapy, but it also offers some insight into what works in healthy relationships. The presentation of research interspersed with observations from the group sessions was an engaging approach. "
— Valeria, 10/4/2010
About Laurie Abraham
Laurie Abraham is a freelance writer, senior editor of Elle magazine, and the author of Mama Might Be Better Off Dead: The Failure of Health Care in Urban America. Formerly the executive editor of Elle, she has written for New York magazine, the New York Times, Mother Jones, and many other publications. Her work is also included in Best American Essays 2006, as well as the original collections The Bitch in the House, Maybe Baby, and The Secret Currency of Love. Abraham has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University and a master’s in law from Yale University.
About Laural Merlington
Laural Merlington is an audiobook narrator with over two hundred titles to her credit and a winner of multiple Earphones Awards. An Audie Award nominee, she has also directed over one hundred audiobooks. She has performed and directed for thirty years in theaters throughout the country. In addition to her extensive theater and voice-over work, she teaches college in her home state of Michigan.