Description
Essential perspectives and insights to get a divorce without devastation
In The Good Divorce, author Karen McNenny shares her own divorce journey, teaching readers how to redefine relationship success and find peace in taking the best step for you and your family. She exposes how the divorce industry often sets families up to fail—from outdated FMLA policies that don't recognize divorce as a major life event, to ”divorce penalties” in insurance and banking, to a legal system that incentivizes conflict over cooperation—and reframes divorce as a family evolution instead of a failure.
Above all, this book is a call to action—to reform the policies and practices that keep families trapped in destructive patterns, to challenge the assumption that divorce must be a messy event, and to create a new framework for how we handle relationship transitions. Readers will find insights and perspectives on:
- The concept of “relationship purgatory,” when you want to stay, but know it isn’t healthy for you or your kids
- The grief that comes from a loss of identity during a divorce
- Common mistakes before, during, and after a divorce, like offering children too many choices
- The unexpected upsides of divorce, like more personal time, focused relationship with your kids, and reinvention of self
The Good Divorce is a must-read for all partners thinking about divorce who want to avoid the all-too-common devastation of dissolving a marriage.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE IX
CHAPTER ONE THE LOVE 1
CHAPTER TWO THE SYSTEM 23
In Their Own Words
Divorce Celebration with Jake and Jeni
CHAPTER THREE THE BREAKUP 45
In Their Own Words
One Big Happy Family with Mercedes
CHAPTER FOUR THE KIDS 67
In Their Own Words
Together Apart with Kelly and Kyle
CHAPTER FIVE THE HOME 91
In Their Own Words
Leave for the Kids with Maggie and Kara
CHAPTER SIX THE GRIEF 111
In Their Own Words
Working Together with Ellen
CHAPTER SEVEN THE COMMUNITY 129
In Their Own Words
Bonus Parents with Elke
CHAPTER EIGHT THE SELF 153
In Their Own Words
Reinventing Myself with Aimee
CHAPTER NINE THE LOGISTICS 171
In Their Own Words
For the Better with Erin and Mitch
CHAPTER TEN THE NEW 189
EPILOGUE 201
APPENDIX 205
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 211
A CHRISTMAS BONUS 215
AUTHOR BIO 229
INDEX 231
