10 Helpful Books About Divorce

Rebuilding: When Your Relationship Ends” – Bruce Fisher

A must-read among books about divorce. “How does he know exactly what I’m feeling?” That’s the most-heard reader comment about this one million copy bestseller by internationally-renowned divorce therapist Bruce Fisher. Rebuilding features Fisher’s “divorce process rebuilding blocks,” a proven nineteen-step process for putting one’s life back together after divorce.

Clearly the most widely-used approach to divorce recovery, the “rebuilding” model makes the process healthier and less traumatic for those who are divorcing or divorced—and their children. Over two decades of research and practice are combined with feedback from hundreds of thousands of men and women who have used the book on their own or in one of thousands of Fisher divorce recovery seminars worldwide.

Also includes Bruce’s detailed Healing Separation model—first of its kind to offer couples a healing alternative to the usual slide from separation to divorce.

The 3rd edition, revised with the assistance of psychologist and marriage and family therapist Dr. Robert Alberti, continues Bruce’s tradition of straight-to-the-heart response to the needs of his clients and readers. Just the right balance of shoulder-to-cry-on and kick-in-the-pants self-help! A classic among books about divorce.

The Family Lawyer’s Guide to Separation and Divorce – Laura Naser

Whether you are married or living together – with children or without, if you are thinking about or are in the process of splitting up, this book is for you among books about divorce.

When a relationship breaks down it’s hugely stressful and emotional – and often very confusing. Who gets to keep what? Will I ever see my kids? What needs to happen and when? What if things get nasty?

This all-encompassing one among books about divorce, by family lawyer Laura Naser with years of experience helping couples reach the best solution possible, is here to bring calm and clarity, whatever the situation. She will guide you through the entire process from making sure this is what you really want and knowing what’s at stake, through to detailing all your options (whether you are married or not), what to do and in what order, and with a specific focus on co-parenting, managing money, social media, effective communication and how to resolve tricky issues that come up along the way.

See this one among books about divorce as your trusted companion and guide – everything you need to know to get through this and thrive is right here.

The New Rules of Divorce – Jacqueline Newman

Marriage as we know it in America has changed–and so, too, has divorce. Women are outearning men. Fathers are winning custody battles. Same-sex marriage is law. In this remarkably insightful and clear guide, elite New York City divorce attorney Jacqueline Newman shares her secrets from over two decades in the trenches. This book will help you:

-Decide whether you are actually ready to get a divorce
-Protect your finances and understand division of assets
-Find the right lawyer for your situation
-Win the child custody schedule you want
-Heal and stay sane in the midst of a disorienting time

Over the course of her career, Newman has implemented her strategies and coached her clients round the clock on how to navigate every aspect of their divorces. Now, in this landmark book, she offers the same tools and tactics to you. Newman also shines a light on the divorce industry where specialists of the trade financially benefit from drawn-out, high conflict cases. “Divorce,” she says, “can be simple, even if it is not amicable.”

Filled with hard-earned wisdom and a touch of humor, The New Rules of Divorce is an essential read for anyone looking to emerge from their breakup stronger, happier, and secure among books about divorce.

Untamed – Glennon Doyle

For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There. She. Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high but soon she realised they had come to her from within. This was the voice she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions and social conditioning. Glennon decided to let go of the world’s expectations of her and reclaim her true untamed self.

Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanising wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is also the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honour our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts. A good one among books about divorce.

Split A Story of Love, Betrayal and Divorce – Suzanne Finnamore

He came home from work. She fixed him a martini. He said she looked beautiful. And then he asked for a divorce.

Suddenly Suzanne Finnamore was alone, with no idea of what to do next. How would she tell their friends he’d left her behind? What would she tell her young son? She downed the mandarin-flavoured vodka, she faced the news of her ex-husband’s infidelity and suffered Valentine’s Day alone. And with a lot of grit and her whiskey-toting mother’s help, she found the hope and humour to pull through.

From her darkest moments to the eventual freedom of life on her own, Suzanne’s story will speak to anyone whose heart’s been stamped on – and needed the strength to start afresh among books about divorce.

Falling Apart in One Piece: One Optimist’s Journey Through the Hell of Divorce – Stacy Morrison

The emotionally charged story of a divorce that brought the surprising gift of grace.

Just when Stacy Morrison thought everything in her life had come together, her husband of ten years announced that he wanted a divorce. She was left alone with a new house that needed a lot of work, a new baby who needed a lot of attention, and a new job in the high-pressure world of New York magazine publishing.

Morrison had never been one to believe in fairy tales. As far as she was concerned, happy endings were the product of the kind of ambition and hard work that had propelled her to the top of her profession. But she had always considered her relationship with her husband a safe place in her often stressful life. All of her assumptions about how life works crumbled, though, when she discovered that no amount of will and determination was going to save her marriage.

For Stacy, the only solution was to keep on living, and to listen—as deeply and openly as possible—to what this experience was teaching her.

Told with humor and heart, her honest and intimate account of the stress of being a working mother while trying to make sense of her unraveling marriage offers unexpected lessons of love, forgiveness, and dignity that will resonate with women everywhere in books about divorce.

How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed – Theo Pauline Nestor

Nestor’s journey takes her deep into her family’s past, to a tiny village in Mexico, where she discovers the truth about how her sister ended up living in a convent there after their parents divorced in the early sixties. What she learns ultimately brings her closer to understanding her own divorce and its impact on her two daughters. “I knew from experience that for children divorce means half the world is constantly eclipsed. When you’re with one parent, the other must always slip out of view,” Nestor writes.

Funny, openhearted, and brave, How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed will speak to anyone who has passed through the halls of divorce court or risked tenderness after loss. It marks the debut of an enchanting, deeply truthful voice, for the ones looking for a memoir among books about divorce.

Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation – Rachel Cusk

In the winter of 2009, Rachel Cusk’s marriage of ten years came to an end. Candid and revelatory, Aftermath chronicles the perilous journey as the author redefines herself and creates a new version of family life for her daughters. She discovers previously unknown strengths and freedoms but also finds herself suddenly vulnerable to outsiders, unwelcome advice, social displacement, and the absence of a clear authority. The pressure to reconstruct a “normal” life for her daughters competes with the sense that nothing feels normal at all.

Aftermath is a classic among books about divorce: a masterly work in which the author, at her most ruthless and rigorous, charts the largely unwritten journey back to order from the chaos that is left when a family breaks apart.

Conscious Uncoupling – Katherine Woodward Thomas

One of my faves among books about divorce. In 2014 a media storm erupted when Gwyneth Paltrow announced her separation from Chris Martin, describing it as a harmonious and mutual ‘conscious uncoupling’ and the term entered the world’s vocabulary overnight. Coined and created by relationship expert Katherine Woodward Thomas, the expression ‘conscious uncoupling’ has become synonymous with a divorce where both partners accept that they each played a role in the breakup and, in particular, are looking to co-parent in a functional and healthy way in the future.

The Conscious Uncoupling 5 Step Process is designed to support separating couples through the thorny terrain of a breakup, helping them to consciously complete a relationship in ways that leave all involved whole, healthy and well, and optimistic about future relationships.

CONSCIOUS UNCOUPLING offers a new paradigm for divorcing couples and is set to become a classic in the genre. A must-read among books about divorce.

The Good Divorce – Constance Ahrons

A classic among books about divorce. This work points out the positive aspects of divorce and examines the complex dilemmas couples face as they separate as spouses while remaining connected as parents. The book dispels the myth that divorce inevitably leaves emotionally-troubled children in its wake. The book also serves as a guide to responsible divorce.

It contains case histories that should help couples to understand the normal, predictable crises of separation and help them move beyond the confusing, even terrifying, early stages of a break-up to deal with the transition from a nuclear to a “bi-nuclear” family – a family that spans two households and yet retains the essential emotional bonds of kinship.