Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #230845 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From the Author
Why I wrote What No One Tells the Bride
I had dated every psycho man out there when I finally met Mr. Right. Even so, adjusting to married life was no small matter. During the engagement and first years of marriage, I worried that I was not as blissed out as everyone expected me to be. I feared married life would subsume the the independent, fiesty woman I had become when I was single. As much as I loved my fiance'/husband, I was not prepared for the profound identity crisis my engagement ring brought on. An incredible newlywed code of silence inhibited me and my newly married friends from talking about our fears and adjustments.

I wrote What No One Tells the Bride to break this taboo and to reassure brides that these adjustments are entirely normal. There is not necessarily anything wrong with you or with your relationship if you are squabbling with your mate, having second thoughts, resisting giving up your single life, or dreaming about old flames. Interviewing 50 women who had been married five years or less, I share the secrets no one usually tells the bride--the real scoop on early married life and our tactics for building a lusty, happy, lifelong marriage.

Most important, What No One Tells the Bride reassures newlyweds that they need not kill themselves trying to be Martha Stewart by day, sexpot by night. Your husband fell in love with you, not with the ideal you have of the "perfect wife." The more you relax, the more you fall in love with him rather than with your fairy tale, the happier you will be.

Customer Reviews

Thanks, Marg, For Telling The Real Story!
This is a very funny and wise book that is very useful in helping the bride deal with the inevitable onset of the reality of marriage, and how things are never quite what you expect them to be. Marg Stark writes like a wise friend or sister, and her advice is practical and often hilarious. I particularly cracked up at the chapter on names -- Stark explains how her best-laid plans to hyphenate her last name with that of her future husband were foiled by the fact that when Mr. Right finally came along, he had a last name that rhymed with hers. So it was either adjust the plans, or go through life as "Marg Stark-Clark"! Very funny, very real. I enjoyed this book a lot and actually got something useful out of it as well. What more could you ask?

This book gave me perspective on my new marriage!
This book hit the spot! It was just what I needed as I struggled in the first months of marriage. It was comforting to hear other bride's experiences which validated that it is normal to have internal struggles, unseen expectations, and an identity crisis as part of being a bride who has gotten married later in life. This was like a light bulb being turned on for me and my husband as we found out why marriage was more difficult than we had anticipated. The author's candid sharing of her personal journey was refreshing and humorous. I will be giving this book to friends at their bridal showers. It's a must-read for any bride who has developed her own life before trying to blend it with the man of her dreams. I highly recommend it!

A must read for independent new brides
I agree with other reviewers that this book targets only a narrow slice of bridedom -- the successful, independent, usually older bride, but as one of those, I found it invaluable. So many other books and magazines on the subject left me cold with their talk of "this is the day you have been dreaming of for your entire life." I had developed a healthy cynicism about those attitudes and a healthy love for myself as a single woman who did not need marriage to be happy. When the love of my life showed up, I was ecstatic, excited, and eager to continue the adventure with a partner, but a bit ashamed of the joy of finding love as I felt like a sell-out. So many of the issues Marg Stark addresses have helped him understand the issues that fight within me and helped me understand him better. Highly recommended. I bought it for 3 friends.