Staying Married is the Hardest Part: A Memoir of Passion, Secrets, and Sacrifice
$14.99
2025 IPPY Awards Silver Medalist for Sexuality/Relationships
2025 ZIBBY Most Anticipated Book of 2025
2025 ZIBBY Summer Reads Selection
Can a loving relationship endure career setbacks, infidelities, and mismatched sexual desires? This is the question psychologist Bonnie Comfort grapples with as she navigates her unpredictable thirty-year marriage to Hollywood screenwriter Bob, while she provides marital therapy to others.
Bob is affectionate, brilliant, and hilarious—but his sexual desires are incompatible with Bonnie’s. Despite her misgivings, she indulges his kinks, which often included photographing her in lingerie. Their Hollywood life is exciting, but eventually Bob’s growing career frustrations lead to his complete sexual shutdown. Tensions rise, and Bob suggests Bonnie have discreet affairs and not tell him. She does just that—but when she confesses her infidelities five years later, his sexual demands become more extreme. When she complies, Bonnie feels shame; when she refuses, as she increasingly does, their fights threaten to tear their marriage apart.
Bonnie understands the rhythm of disconnection and repair that is common in love relationships. As we follow the journey of her own life, she shares with the reader the nature of intimacy, distance and expectations placed on long-term love. With honesty and vulnerability, she recounts the passionate highs and lows of her own marriage which sadly ends with Bob’s death. As she grieves, Bonnie reflects on her role in their marital struggles and offers profound insights about marriage from her personal and professional experience. Her story lays bare the complexities of love, the ongoing challenges women face in intimate relationships, and how even difficult marriages can find a way to thrive.
$14.99
Keywords New Release
About the Author
Bonnie Comfort is a psychologist with 30 years of experience, holding an MSW from the University of Manitoba and a PhD from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Her psychological thriller “Denial” (Simon & Schuster) was published in eight countries and translated into five languages. A specialist in marital therapy, she’s been featured on numerous podcasts and trained with experts like Terrence Real, David Schnarch, John Gottman and Marty Klein. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her long-time partner. Learn more at BonnieComfort.com.
Description
2025 IPPY Awards Silver Medalist for Sexuality/Relationships
2025 ZIBBY Most Anticipated Book of 2025
2025 ZIBBY Summer Reads Selection
Can a loving relationship endure career setbacks, infidelities, and mismatched sexual desires? This is the question psychologist Bonnie Comfort grapples with as she navigates her unpredictable thirty-year marriage to Hollywood screenwriter Bob, while she provides marital therapy to others.
Bob is affectionate, brilliant, and hilarious—but his sexual desires are incompatible with Bonnie’s. Despite her misgivings, she indulges his kinks, which often included photographing her in lingerie. Their Hollywood life is exciting, but eventually Bob’s growing career frustrations lead to his complete sexual shutdown. Tensions rise, and Bob suggests Bonnie have discreet affairs and not tell him. She does just that—but when she confesses her infidelities five years later, his sexual demands become more extreme. When she complies, Bonnie feels shame; when she refuses, as she increasingly does, their fights threaten to tear their marriage apart.
Bonnie understands the rhythm of disconnection and repair that is common in love relationships. As we follow the journey of her own life, she shares with the reader the nature of intimacy, distance and expectations placed on long-term love. With honesty and vulnerability, she recounts the passionate highs and lows of her own marriage which sadly ends with Bob’s death. As she grieves, Bonnie reflects on her role in their marital struggles and offers profound insights about marriage from her personal and professional experience. Her story lays bare the complexities of love, the ongoing challenges women face in intimate relationships, and how even difficult marriages can find a way to thrive.
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amysbookshelf72 (verified owner) –
Bonnie Comfort has her own story told through her memoir.
In Staying Married is the Hardest Part, the listener is brought into the life of the author, Bonnie Comfort. She takes a deep dive into her personal life, especially the intimacy of her marriage and how it changed. She’s been married to Bob, for over thirty years. He’s a screenwriter in Hollywood, so they are living the grand life of celebrity, but it’s a different life behind closed doors as it is in public. I haven’t listened to anything from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. Bonnie isn’t shy about putting her story out there, and I feel it is very brave to share the ins and outs of a relationship. As the title entails, it is true, staying married is the hardest part of a marriage. People change, evolve, devolve, and also sometime, reveal their inner secrets or desires. It’s one of those memoirs that stick with you, because even though you may not be celebrity or famous, what happens in your home, your bedroom, is not something you usually share with the world. I think this book was cathartic for Bonnie, and I commend her deeply. This book deserves both a read and a listen! It’s a memoir that Bonnie felt like sharing, and I’m sure, it was more than just sharing her life, but the strength she shows for telling her story, maybe can help someone else in the similar situation. Life needs a bit of passion, whether physical, or emotional, or part of someone’s being. Staying Married is the Hardest Part on audiobook is a definite listening recommendation by Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to listening to many more titles by this author. Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who listens to this book, to also write a review.