Married Women Who Love Women

Rating:
Summary: Changed My Life
Review: Carren's book tells a story rarely told--of married women who discover an attraction to other women. Told with rare insight from the unique insiders perspective, this book chronicles the true stories of many women who have undergone this earthshaking transition in their own lives, and have found a wide variety of coping mechanisms. I recommend this book not only to women questioning their own sexuality but also for anyone wanting to understand both the coming out process and the intricate mechanisms of hetereosexual privilege at work in everyday lives. This book is a rare achievement; a beautifully constructed and deeply moving work.

Rating:
Summary: Very weak research
Review: I believe I understand what the author was trying to accomplish in this book. There is value in a book that investigates the confusion on sexual orientation that can occur with women in the 35-55 age range. However, this book was so poorly researched and was based on such shoddy methodology that it looses whatever value it might have had. By soliciting volunteers for interviews from women's centers and lesbian groups, the book ignores the stories of women who found their ambivalence about their sexuality stemmed from other more probable issues (e.g., issues with being a mother, having children leave the home, self-esteem issues, problematic marriage, etc.).

I guess there is some value in telling the story of women who discover that they were ignoring the lesbian "voices" that had been in their heads for decades. Several (most?) of the women interviewed, in fact, had an inkling or were conscious of being sexually or romantically attracted to women their entire adult life. However, the book seems to claim a much broader mandate than this. The author should have either refocussed herself or should have expanded her research.

Rating:
Summary: This book is amazing - all married women should read it
Review: This book is poignant and moving. It tells a womans real life story about discovering her sexuality - and also it tell other womens stories too. All of them Married Women who Love Women. It is a book which brings courage and strength to women who are in heterosexual relationships and yet who also love women. It reminds us that we are not alone, that others are there and have been there and survive. Any married woman who has ever looked admiringly at another woman should read this book - it may tell YOUR story.

Rating:
Summary: Changed My Life
Review: This book was medicine to me - it calmed me down in a period of crisis. It is WELL written and helped me understand how other married women have explored and responded to their attraction to women. I couldn't wait for it to arrive, was too frightened to look at it when I finally had it in my hands, then couldn't put it down when I opened to page one. What a comfort to know I'm not alone. I think of the women in crisis who need this book - and hope they find their way to it.

Rating:
Summary: Into the light
Review: With this book, Carren Strock brings one of the least visible segments of society into view: those for whom the book is named. By sharing openly and honestly her own experiences and those of a wide cross-section of women who are or have been married to men but love women, she shows the myriad ways these women, their families and lovers live this reality for which no societal guidelines or examples exist, and no serious discussion was available before the publication of this book. As for this reader, finding and reading this book, and sharing it with my husband, honestly saved my sanity if not my life.

Rating:
Summary: Into the light
Review: With this book, Carren Strock brings one of the least visible segments of society into view: those for whom the book is named. By sharing openly and honestly her own experiences and those of a wide cross-section of women who are or have been married to men but love women, she shows the myriad ways these women, their families and lovers live this reality for which no societal guidelines or examples exist, and no serious discussion was available before the publication of this book. As for this reader, finding and reading this book, and sharing it with my husband, honestly saved my sanity if not my life.