Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: Written in the same form as "The Total Woman" I found this book to be very enlightening. I learned much from the author and was not disappointed when I finished it. We need more books like this!
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating book!
Review: This book has taught me more about myself than anything. With a major focus on forgiveness, this book is a mental mirror and it gives a clear reflection of self. Forgiveness is such an important gift we must give freely in life. Without it, our relationships remain tainted and our situations continue to cause misery in our lives. This book, based on biblical principles, takes us away from feminism to back to the way God intended for us to be. I highly recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Follows cult principles
Review: Not a blanket criticism of this marriage book which should be called how to hang onto your marriage at all costs (the Christian or rather the Church of Latter Day Saints way). Some good points about femininity and acceptance. But acceptance can be taken so far. As other writers have observed this could prevent a woman leaving a physically or emotionally abusive man. It's cult-like because it starts off promising to deliver a marriage that is unbelievably fantastic. So we get pulled in. But when things aren't going as planned it's always the fault of the woman (similar to always blaming the cult follower) and never just that maybe the book's principles don't work for every marriage or every man. You're told to look at your faults when the man is acting badly. I think that's taking the log out of the eye parable a bit too far. The desperate wife is made to feel inadequate. If at last the marriage fails despite her adhering to the book she can only look to herself to blame because who can follow this book's principles perfectly? Because she's not perfect she's to blame. Makes anyone going through a divorce feel doubly guilty. She mentions abusive men but devotes only a couple of paragraphs to them and says leave them but she doesn't really define what she means by abusive men. On the other hand she claims that no man is hopeless. Even if a woman can't think of a single good point about him (which is I think a pretty obvious red flag) she should place her faith in God. This encourages women to have hope in abusive men.
She says express disbelief when he does something wrong. But after a few times of this isn't it strange to be still acting surprised? The book should come with a warning not to attempt the principles on certain men, abusers and so on. There is also contradictory advice on men who are unfaithful or who fail to provide. Has anyone else picked up on this?
There's also stuff about dangerous Indians that makes them seem less than human. Obviously this book is not directed to those of native ancestry. And I wonder how wise it is to stay with someone who is chronically faithful in this day and age of dangerous STDs?
She neglects to tell you what you should do if your husband lies about committing infidelity. If he won't admit to it in the first place then how can you be sure when it's stopped (if ever)? Good advice about turning your back on financial problems and letting him deal with it. However she counsels working is bad for a marriage. So where does that leave the woman when she has to leave? She says family and charity but what about situations where a woman has neither to turn to? Such simplistic answers are typical of cults. The other cultlike thing is she never mentions the failures only the unbelievable success stories. And who would admit to having failed anyway? You'd just be a target for her accusations that YOU weren't good enough. You weren't WOMAN enough. Not good for those already with battered self-esteem. A bit frightening that somebody with her background can make the claims she does in her book. Where are the studies? Where are the statistics proving her success rate? I'm sorry examples from literature aren't good enough - for God's sake they come from some person's imagination! Talking about authors, she mentions Tolstoy twice, quotes from "War and Peace" and from his personal life. Go check out his diaries. You'll be surprised she's using him as an example. Those vulnerable and looking for answers should beware when traversing this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A bizarre, perverse, and profoundly unChristian book
Review: I first met this book decades ago, when the leader of my church youth organization handed it to me. The ideas in it weren't new to me: dress girly, act girly, always let the boys win, pretend you think they're brilliant, and clean up after them -- and they and God will love you, and you'll be happy. That was pretty much business as usual. But what was new about the book was that it explicitly spelled out all that nonsense in one place. I could see the whole system more clearly than I'd ever seen it before, and it was revolting. Helen Andelin preaches constant lying as a way of life. In essence she's saying that you and your husband can never love or respect each other for who you are -- not now, and not in the future. Nothing you can make of yourself will ever earn his honest, unmanipulated love and respect. Moreover, your husband will never mature into someone who can cope with the horrible realization that he's married to an adult human being of the same species as himself. That being the case, Andelin believes, your only option is to lie like a rug -- to spend your life engaging in manipulative, seductive, and servile behavior, in hopes that your husband will continue to be fond of you and treat you well. Can you be happy married to a man you don't respect? Could you respect a man who is reliably moved, year after year after year, by the sight of a grown woman dressed like a little girl, stamping her foot and tossing her curls in "adorably angry" Shirley Temple fashion? My beloved husband of twenty-two years is a tolerant man, but he'd overdose on that routine in ninety seconds max, and he'd never stand for that kind of playacting in a serious discussion. FASCINATING WOMANHOOD has nothing to do with Christianity. It's a rule-of-thumb set of manipulative behaviors subservient women have historically used on men, and the numerous non-Christian versions of it we have available to us aren't all that different from the advice Helen Andelin gives in her book. I see no trace here of the religion that once astonished the ancient world by announcing: "You have been baptized into Christ: you have clothed yourselves in him. No longer is there Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. You have become one in Christ Jesus." And I'd like to know just where in the Bible it says "God loves a liar," because I've surely missed that bit in all my previous readings. If there's any use to this book that I can see, it's that it reminds us to be kind and forbearing and considerate, and to PAY ATTENTION to our loved ones. That, at least, is good advice. It's all too easy to fall into the trap of saving our good manners and charm for mere acquaintances, and behave carelessly toward those we're closest to. This is such a simple thing that it can be hard to remember it from day to day. We do well to remind ourselves of it. But surely, surely, that's something an adult can do, and a human being can honestly express. (And a last, brief note on the economics of her scheme: Helen Andelin's advice to stay home full-time and make do with what your husband earns is a lot easier to follow if your husband happens to be a dentist; and if you yourself happen to have written a bestseller that's been in print since the early 1960s, it works even better.)
Rating:
Summary: Practical suggestions for being more womanly and feminine...
Review: Helen Andelin has certainly "won" her share of criticism from the feminists for her completely politically incorrect book! And while I do not agree with all of her points (particularly the "childlike anger" section), I find most of her advice fun, practical, whimsical and helpful. Andelin sounds a clarion call for women to be women -- and to enjoy every minute of being the "weaker sex." Why go through life trying to be just like a man when you can enjoy the benefits of chivalry and gentility by acting like a lady? And being a lady in Andelin's book doesn't mean being a dummy, either (Andelin's critics just haven't read enough of the book to get this message loud and clear). Andelin encourages a broad, deep liberal arts education and a wide knowledge of all things worthy and good in the world to make a woman intelligent, interesting, and, yes, "fascinating." From the down-to-earth tips on personal beauty and dress to the more philosophical chapters on respecting men and learning to be feminine from the inside out, _Fascinating Womanhood_ is a super read and something worth pondering.
Rating:
Summary: Tried it for 20 years and lost
Review: I got this book before I was even married and for more than 20 years consistently, honestly and thoroughly followed it. It was right there next to my Bible, till it became part of who I was. I found that my husband,"ate it up". He continued to take and take and I continued to give and give. Now I have NOTHING left to give. Yes, I'm still married, but I have no hope and no desire that it will ever be more than it is now. I staked my life on this book. "If you follow these principles, he can't help but to love you." It just didn't work for me.
Rating:
Summary: Are you kidding?
Review: This book is still in print? I came across a 1971 edition of this that, in it's chapter "Childlikeness" reads, "childlikeness is one of the most charming qualities in the entire philosophy of Fascinating Womanhood...There are four ways we (women) NEED to become more childlike: 1. In communicating our emotions to our husbands. 2. In asking for things. 3. In our manner. 4. In appearance. Daddy! I don' feew bewy gewd. Waaaa. Can I have a new ironing board pweese. I need to iron my holly hobbie dwess!"
It gets much worse. Thanks Helen, and I hope things are working out for you these days. By the way, we'd be interested to know if Brittney Spears would qualify as a Domestic (childlike) Goddess?
Rating:
Summary: A Classic!
Review: I found an old copy of this book from the early 70s and was captivated by the title, so I started to read. The first couple of chapters were a little dull, but after getting through the part describing what an ideal woman is from a man's point of view, it got really interesting. There is no denying the differences between men and women, and Helen Adeline is very perceptive in describing what men want from women. It doesn't require being a pleaser, only a deeper understanding and consideration of men's needs - what any caring woman would want to give her husband. I learned so much from this book, and it proved itself in the implementation. I highly recommend this book. For women who are interested in a feminist perspective, see The Surrendered Wife - a book with similar views, but a different twist.
Rating:
Summary: Speaking the Truth in Love
Review: I am a Christian. This book restored life to my marriage. I was concerned that the author is Mormon. I asked my husband if he saw anything wrong with the book as I was practicing it. He has not read it. He has been so pleased with the new me that he describes the book as "speaking the truth in love". As I have practiced what the book says, I have always checked my motives to make sure they were honest and pure in the things I said and did. I believe in the Trinity, which is different from Mormon belief. I believe the only way a person can truly and sincerely practice the ideas in the book is by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Every time I have asked God to show me how to apply the principles and to empower me to apply them He has taken over and blessed my husband and me beyond anything any human ability could do. I don't know the author, but I love her for what she has done to help me understand how to respect and win (I Peter 3:4) my husband. Her dearly loved husband has recently died and she misses him sorely. I pray for her often. A Christian man, David Coory with Zealand Publishers, has taken the concepts of Fascinating Womanhood and condensed them in a superb way in Secrets of Fascinating Womanhood. I highly recommend both books.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Womanhood and other
Review: I truly believe that this book was brought on my way by the hand of God. In the second week of my marriage I found the book, bought it and read it. It agrees with every biblical principle I know of, and showed me how to practically impliment it in my life. My newly wed husband says that he falls even more in love me every day. I have read the book twice, and I am now studying it, one principle per week. For other woman who are as impressed as I am, Helen wrote two other books: The Secrets of Winning Men, which is the single's version of Fascinating Womanhood, & The Upbringing of Children. Her husband, Aubrey Andelin, wrote 'Man of Steel and Velvet".
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