THE HUSBANDS AND WIVES CLUB A Year in the Life of a Couples Therapy Group

No can ever know the inside of a marriage except the couple involved—until Laural Merlington dramatized this book. Journalist Laurie Abraham became the proverbial fly-on-the-wall as she observed five couples struggling to improve their relationships over a year of group therapy with therapist Judith Coch. Merlington projects authority as she recounts research, theories, and statistics; distinguishes all 11 characters; and delivers the connective narrative with an energetic flow. But it’s the raw vulnerability of the couples’ in-session vignettes that is most poignant. 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. S.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2010]