Vow: A Memoir of Marriage (and Other Affairs) - Softcover

Plump, Wendy

3.04

569 ratings by Goodreads

9781620400715: Vow: A Memoir of Marriage (and Other Affairs)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1620400715 ISBN 13: 9781620400715

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2014

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There are so many ways to find out. From a cell phone. From a bank statement. From some weird supermarket encounter. One morning in early January 2005, Wendy Plump's friend came to tell her that her husband was having an affair. It was not a shock. Actually, it explained a lot. But what Wendy was not prepared for was the revelation that her husband also had another child, living within a mile of their family home.

Monogamy is one of the most important of the many vows we make in our marriages. Yet it is a rare spouse who does not face some level of temptation in their married life. The discovery of her husband's affair followed betrayals of Wendy's own, earlier in the marriage. The revelations of those infidelities had tested their relationship, but for Wendy, it was commitment-the sticking with it-that mattered most, and when her sons were born, she knew family had to come first. But with another woman and another family in the picture, she lost all sense of certainty.

In Vow, Wendy Plump boldly walks one relationship's fault lines, exploring infidelity from the perspective of both betrayer and betrayed. Moving fluidly from the intimate to the near-universal, she considers the patterns of adultery, the ebb and flow of passion, the undeniable allure of the illicit, the lovers and the lies. Frank, intelligent and important, Vow will forever alter your understanding of fidelity, and the meaning of the promises we make to those we love.

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Review:

A powerfully honest account of adultery ... Vow is not the kind of memoir usually written by a bruised wife bent on revenge ... Vow may change the way you see yourself; it will at least change your marriage ... What makes Vow so powerful is that she dissects not only the carcass of her own marriage, but the drive that propels so many otherwise sane people to destroy ... the bullet-proof world they have tried to create (Frances Wilson Daily Telegraph)

Vow is brilliant from both a literary and a psychological perspective. It certainly takes emotional honesty to write with such candour about the drama and allure of one's personal adulterous experiences, but this book is more than simply honest; it is also searingly well told. A tremendous achievement (Elizabeth Gilbert)

Vow is so tender and sharp, so suffused with our common humanity and so precise. Plump is also unfailingly honest about what affairs give us and what they take away. This book is a real gift (Elizabeth Weil, author of No Cheating, No Dying)

Metaphors and similes and original descriptions can't defend the reader against the sheer pain of broken vows. Wendy Plump creates a beautifully wrought word painting from which I, for one, came away with a new slant on 'marital vows.' Couples should read this book-and then write their own (Carly Simon)

Admirable honesty ... Plump's is an unflinching account that was obviously necessary for her to write (Sunday Times)

A frank and compelling journey through the author's marriage and adultery . Plump lifts the lid on her marriage with a wry voice and unflinching honesty. Far from victim of the breakdown, Plump is unerringly frank about her role in its failure (Mslexia)

Book Description:

From the publishers of Eat, Pray, Love and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother comes an honest, startling new memoir that will spark a new debate about fidelity and betrayal

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