Secrets of Great Marriages: Real Truth from Real Couples about Lasting Love by Charlie Bloom


Secrets of Great Marriages: Real Truth from Real Couples about Lasting Love
Title : Secrets of Great Marriages: Real Truth from Real Couples about Lasting Love
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1577316789
ISBN-10 : 9781577316787
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 256
Publication : First published December 6, 2009

Therapists Charlie and Linda Bloom have been married more than thirty-five years. Over a two-year period, they interviewed twenty-seven couples who had been together for an average of thirty years and seemed as happy as newlyweds. Were they just lucky? The Blooms found that these couples had faced real challenges — difficulties with children and stepchildren, war wounds, infidelity, and financial ruin. They also found that with loving dialogue and open hearts, the couples had found ways to heal, grow, and deepen their commitment through, and not despite, their challenges. The Blooms distill this real-world wisdom into practical, positive actions any couple can take to achieve or regain not just a good marriage but a great one.

Secrets of Great Marriages: Real Truth from Real Couples about Lasting Love Reviews

  • Soaraway

    Actually, I thought this book was fantastic. Like some other reviewers, at first I found it trite, but later into the book some real practical wisdom emerged. I truly found couples offering innovative solutions to problems in marriage, personality clashes, interpersonal relations, and communication. It is really up to the reader to take from it what they find most useful in their own marriage and relationships.

  • Lorena

    The authors interviewed couples who had been together for at least 15 years, and they present 27 of those couples’ stories in their own words in a dialog format. This wasn’t quite what I expected, but it is interesting if you have patience to consider each couple’s story. Some stories resonated with me more than others.

    What stood out most to me was all of the challenges that these couples faced. Their relationships weren’t perfect, but they found ways to learn, grow, and face their challenges together. I was particularly inspired by the couples who faced serious health challenges or great losses and still found happiness together.

    Doug MacKechnie did a great job with narration. He’s easy to understand, he has distinct voices for the different interviewees, and his pacing and emphasis are wonderful.

    Although it takes some effort to glean specific lessons from these stories, I found this audiobook interesting and inspiring.

    I received a free copy of this audiobook from the authors. I volunteered to provide an honest review.

  • Kim

    Closer to a 2.5, but giving it a 3. I love the concept of this book, and enjoyed reading some of the stories, but I just couldn't really engage with it the way I hoped to. I think a greater diversity of demographics (so many of the couples seemed to come from the counseling/therapy community) would have made the book more interesting for me.

  • Marjorie

    just couldn't get through it. too much anecdote and cliche. i could learn as much about marriages reading facebook statuses.