cover image The Secret Lives of Lawfully Wedded Wives: 25 Women Writers on Love, Infidelity, Sex Roles, Race, Kids, and More

The Secret Lives of Lawfully Wedded Wives: 25 Women Writers on Love, Infidelity, Sex Roles, Race, Kids, and More

. Inner Ocean Publishing, $14.95 (245pp) ISBN 978-1-930722-63-7

Stephens, editor of the Wild Women books, gathers tales of married and single life from women writers of varied romantic backgrounds: still married, twice married, and divorced. The writers address subjects ranging from infidelity, infertility to cross-cultural marriage. With titles such as ""Eight Sizzling Sex Secrets to Keep Your Marriage Strong,"" ""My Marriage Is a Joke"" and ""Another Traditional Arab-Jewish Iowa Potluck,"" a light sense of humor steers the collection away from being too macabre. A few authors choose to write anonymously, which works to allow literary freedom, but also suggests a shameful tone in a volume that promises a ""no-holds-barred"" narrative of married life. Cleverly written, the essays put a spin on the typical women's magazine topics and connect the individual stories to universal marital problems, appealing to every married or committed woman.