The Remarriage Blueprint
How Remarried Couples and Their Families Succeed or Fail
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times bestselling relationship expert shares stories of seven remarried couples—and explains the unique challenges these families face and how anyone can bypass roadblocks to lasting intimacy and enjoy a happy home life: “A compelling book that can serve anyone looking to tie the knot once more” (Kirkus Reviews).
It’s estimated that 40 percent of new marriages in the US are remarriages, but the survival rate of second marriages is alarmingly low. Many remarrying couples set out with a sense of optimism, a belief that this marriage will usher in a life of happiness and unity—but complicated family dynamics can often strain new partnerships to the breaking point. The challenges of remarriage are pervasive, but little guidance has existed until now.
Based on more than a decade of candid, revelatory interviews, The Remarriage Blueprint provides a crucial explanation of the obstacles to remarriage and the secrets to overcoming them. Author Maggie Scarf, a consummate relationship expert, plumbs the everyday workings of shared life to illuminate the emotional preconceptions, social pressures, and perpetuated fantasies that confound remarriage. Through cautionary tales and stories of hope, Scarf offers guidance for handling everything from children who reject the new family dynamic to the thorny issue of money. Loaded with practical wisdom and searing accounts, The Remarriage Blueprint is “an extremely helpful book on a topic that receives too little attention” (Peter D. Kramer, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University and author of Listening to Prozac).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though divorce and remarriage rates are on the rise, the dynamics of blended families are not well understood. They function differently than traditional families, and troubleshooting can be extremely difficult. Scarf (Intimate Partners), a visiting fellow at Yale University's Whitney Humanities Center, draws from extensive interviews she conducted over the course of more than a decade, examining possible remarriage scenarios both good and bad and solutions to common problems. Right off the bat, she warns readers that remarriage will likely require even more hard work and understanding in order to be successful than a first marriage. She bases her analysis on Dr. Patricia Papernow's "architectural model" and goes through each of five "structural" challenges to be expected in a remarriage (e.g., "the uniting of two disparate family cultures" and the friction of different parenting styles), as well as "the Great Unspoken": money. Scarf's writing is technical but accessible, however her advice is relatively ho-hum. Still, the eight extended case studies featured in the book offer intimate and candid glimpses of the struggles faced by remarried couples and their families.
