New book for Adult Children of Divorce

The community of folks writing about the long term effects of divorce is pretty small, as I discovered when researching for Generation Ex. And within that pool, the number who have experienced parental divorce themselves is even smaller. One such writer/researcher is Elizabeth Marquardt.

Elizabeth has written several articles on the long term effects of divorce as part of her work as an affiliate scholar at the Institute for American Values. Her article, "We're Successful and Hurt," which was first published in The Washington Times, is referenced early on in my book. Elizabeth and I have emailed a few times and I'm appreciative of her inclusion of my book on the AFI site.

I'll be the first to admit that Elizabeth is much smarter and more articulate than I am. She is a talented researcher and wordsmith and at last, her own book is releasing this September from Crown. Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce explores the moral and spiritual development of children of divorce.

With a foreword by my sociological hero, Judith Wallerstein, Elizabeth's book will reach a broader audience than mine. Where my book has a very personal, "I'm walking through it right with you" tone, Elizabeth is a bit farther ahead on the journey and offers a more detached, yet still inclusive tone, as she meets the needs of both the academic world and adult children of divorce.

From the publisher:

Based on a pioneering new national study, Between Two Worlds offers a profound look at how the emotional and spiritual lives of children change after divorce. One quarter of adults between the ages of 18 and 35 have grown up in divorced families. Now this generation is coming of age, and Elizabeth Marquardt's book, which interweaves her own story of growing up as the child of divorce with the findings of a groundbreaking study, will speak to them like no other. Marquardt challenges the idea of the "good" divorce, the notion that divorce itself is less important than the way parents handle it. Using new evidence from her study, which includes interviews with young adults from both divorced and intact families, Marquardt shows that even amicable divorces have lasting effects on children. The truth is that divorce restructures childhood itself as children grow up traveling between two worlds, each with distinct moral values, traditions, and messages. With a foreword by bestselling divorce expert Judith Wallerstein, Between Two Worlds is a book of transforming power for the adult children of divorce whose true experience has for too long gone unrecognized.

I want to be the first to jump on the Elizabeth Marquardt bandwagon because I realize she has a better opportunity than I do to get the word about the message we share. I hope that if you've read my book--or even if you haven't!--please pre-order a copy of Between Two Worlds. As someone who works in the publishing industry, I can tell you that pre-orders play a vital role in how a book isperceivedd by the media. I hope you support Elizabeth Marquardt's important work.