When a relationship that was meant for love and companionship becomes filled with conflict, bitterness and despair, it can make life seem painfully unbearable. Many who endure this experience see divorce as their only means of escape. No matter how much the divorce has been anticipated and prepared for, it almost always turns out to be more difficult than imagined. On the personal level, it shatters self-confidence, and rouses guilt, anger, and insecurity. Socially, it complicates all inter-personal relationships especially when children are involved.
Divorce is never an easy solution for a troubled marriage.
Yet if divorce is difficult for the marriage partners, it is far worse for their children. Anyone dealing with the issue of divorce, especially parents who are questioning whether they should keep their marriage vows for the sake of the children, should read this book. For 25 years, Wallerstein followed the lives of more than a hundred children from the time their parents went through a divorce into their own adulthood experiences. In her book, she focuses in great detail on seven of those children who characterize the common experiences of the larger group. The study offers a firsthand challenge to the long-standing notion that ending an unhappy marriage is better for the children.