Publisher's Weekly Review

Freelance editor Chapin and literary agent Wofford-Girand gather essays by 21 women writers who dish about their troubled marriages. The suicide of her violent ex-husband renders Debra Magpie Earling gun-shy of future romances, and Lee Montgomery contemplates infidelity on a flirtatious ski weekend with her former college boyfriend while her trusting husband of 20 years is off visiting his ill father. Elissa Minor Rust's commitment to her husband is unwavering despite her break from the Mormon Church that once was their union's bedrock; an unplanned pregnancy threatens Annie Echols's marriage; and Daniela Kuper battles a religious guru for child custody. Although candid and heartfelt, many of these essays are unpolished, rambling and poorly edited, like Zelda Lockhart's saga of coming into her own as a lesbian and a mother. Another low is Terry McMillan's vulgar rant about an ex-husband, who admitted to homosexual exploits on national television. The two best pieces are self-knowing, gutsy and carefully crafted: Joyce Maynard confesses how her earlier infidelity nibbled away at a lonely marriage that abruptly ended when her husband slept with the babysitter while she was away caring for her dying mother; and Ann Hood proves that a loving marriage can miraculously survive a child's death. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved