Recipes for a Perfect Marriage

i am saying this because i bought this book when i was engaged and read it again when i was married. it helped me a great deal. there are two parallel stories, one in the past and one in the present. they both contain some really valuable and true advice. such as, not letting the little things that annoy you get in the way of your relationship. trust is the most important thing in a marriage. the comittment to love is stronger than feelings, and lasts a lifetime. these are just a few of the priceless bits of wisdom this book has to offer. it really helped me in the beginning of my marriage. i think it would be helpful no matter what stage of your life you are in.

I am not the type of reader that will sit down and read a whole book in one evening, but I could not put it down. I am not married yet, but this book taught me that love is not just what marriages are made of. A marriage is made of commitment, loyalty and the willingness to be there no matter what. This book made me cried and touched me in ways that not often books do. Read it, have some kleenex available and enjoy it. And when you are done, give your husband or boyfriend a big hug and tell them how much you love them.

This novel is a gem, exploring the mysteries of marriage in sections which touch upon some of the traits that help maintain commitment (Chemistry, compromise, sacrifice, endurance, shared joy, etc). Don't fear that this book will be "preachy" - it is not. Instead, it is a very penetrating, realistic look at marriage through the eyes of two women, Tressa and Bernadine.Tressa lives in today's world. Bernadine "speaks" to her only through journal entries but that is enough to reveal the marriage she had, a marriage Tressa mistakenly believed was perfect. Although the two women are generations apart - but shared a similar dilemna, learning to love their husbands after marrying them. Tressa is newly married and already wondering what she has gotten herself into. As Tressa continues to struggle with her own doubts, she starts to read her grandmother's journal and glimpes the truth behind the facade of perfection in her grandmother's marriage. Both of the women's lives in this book are believable and the author doesn't shy away from hard truths - that love, even in the best of marriages, can wax and wane, that it may have to grow over time and that commitment and hanging on through times of deep, deep doubt and stress may be what separates those who stay married from those who do not. Enduring some periods of lovelessness and animosity may even be normal. What I like best about this book (besides the wonderful writing) is the point that the author returns to time and again...that there is no one formula for success in building a successful marriage - but there ARE goalposts along the way, characteristics that temper youthful romance and build a mature union. In showing the growth of these two women as they struggle with doubt about whether they truly love their husbands or not, the author, Morag Prunty, reveals how the deepest love may come from LEARNING how to love as a marriage goes along and in turning away from romantic fantasies to the hard reality of the work it takes to maintain commitment and build a history. This is the world of real love, not fantasy, not formula romance - and it should be required reading for many couples, married or single. It raises so many questions: what IS the basis of a good marriage? How important is just "hanging in there" when all seems hopeless? When is it time to walk away? How is one's personal growth affected by learning to tolerate someone with habits which may be very different from one's own?

In "Recipes for a Perfect Marriage" Kate Kerrigan transcends the genre of women's fiction, and has produced a novel for everyone - man or woman - who has ever loved only to hesitate on the brink of commitment, or to doubt a commitment already made. In a tale spanning three generations, Kerrigan illuminates the differences and similarities in the roles of women and men in marriage, and in the way we view marriage itself, today and in our grandparents' generation. Along the way - in a captivating tale that is also a genuine page-turner - Kerrigan displays a unique insight into the highs and lows of romantic love, and the deeper and more complex rewards of committing oneself to another. Read it, and ask your partner to read it, too.

I picked this up on a trip to Dublin and was surprised at how good it was. It is similar to "Like Water for Chocolate" in that there is a recipe that introduces each chapter. The recipes reflect the relationships in the book. Somewhere in the chapter either the flavor, the difficulty of preparation, or something in the recipe will be important in the progression of the story line. This beautifully written story tells how on her wedding day, a young bride receives her grandmother's recipes and diaries. The bride, who thinks she has made a mistake in her choice of a husband, had always thought that her grandparents had a perfect marriage. Through reading her grandmother's diaries she discovers what a "perfect marriage" really is and how different it is from what we think we are looking for in a mate.