Customer Reviews

Living in Love

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Those familiar with Ms. Stoddard's work will delight in reading "Living in Love". She talks in depth about her relationship with her husband and as always describes her life in a way that makes you want to go home, light some candles and sip a cup of tea in front of a fire

I thought this was a wonderful class on marriage from an honest female perspective. In college, I took a class about marriage, but it was taught by a man and had more suggestions about what a man could do to be a successful marriage partner. While men and women could both learn from this book, I appreciated the female perspective from an author who sees marriage as an equal partnership.

I brought this book because I am getting married and wanted to learn more about creating a loving home. I expected this book to leave me with feelings or warmth but instead it left me cold. In particular in one segment of the book, called defining momements, Ms. Stoddard describes a defining moment in her marriage where she decides not to pack her bags and leave her husband. Her husband's teenage son from a previous marriage had thrown a wild party in their absence and destroyed the house. After her husband convinces her to stay ,a decision is reached that the best thing for everyone is if the son goes to boarding school. While I don't condone the actions of the son I certainly know many families who have faced difficulties like this with teenage children. Leaving their husband or removing the offending child from the home are usually not the options considered. At the time of the incident the son's natural mother was in an irreversible coma. I think this was a defining moment in their family but more for the parent-child relationship then for the husband-wife relationship. In another part of the book Ms. Stoddard refers to another one of her husband's sons as a juvenile delinquent. I think this is a very unloving label/reference toward a troubled child. While I believe this child may have behaved in some truly destructive ways, I also believe no one is born a juvenile delinquent. They are created.

Living in Love rates as high as Alexandra Stoddard's previous books. For those who long to have a gracious, loving home and extended family this book is a MUST! Jam packed with simple ideas we all can impliment