One of the goals professionals have for our divorcing couples is to help them develop a narrative of their life together/ their marriage, and now, their life apart/ their divorce. That is, a story that they constructed, that has value and meaning for each of them. I have found that reading the narrative in fiction can help “tune our ears” to meaningful narration.
NOVELS. An example of fiction with a powerful divorce story is Warren Adler’s trilogy about the effects of divorce on three generations: the parents, their children, then the grandparents. Even the divorces in these novels have all struggled through the court system, there are universal meanings and lessons in the characters’ feelings and reactions. Although many of us practice as far away from the court room as possible, the characters’ pains still reverberate.
Below is a short clip from a flyer i wrote about Warren Adler’s 2004 novel, WAR OF THE ROSES/ The CHILDREN, which has been reissued this year.
Short review of the novel War of the Roses – The Children by Warren Adler