STAYING MARRIED Is The HARDEST PART: a Memoir of Passion, Secrets and Sacrifice by Bonnie Comfort – Memoirs, Marriage, Family

In her stunning and intimate memoir Staying Married is the Hardest Part: A Memoir of Passion, Secrets and Sacrifice, Bonnie Comfort takes readers on a decades-long journey of deep love, laughter, and the challenges of a long-term marriage, from first meeting her husband Bob in the late 1970s until his death in 2010.

Throughout their life together, Bonnie and Bob have their fair share of disagreements—including where to live—but the main conflict within their marriage centers around their conflicting sexual needs and preferences.

As a professional psychologist, Bonnie shows the highs and lows of her marriage to Bob, contrasted by her job of helping others with their emotional and relationship problems. Bonnie and Bob’s committed love for one another makes staying married both the hardest and easiest part of their lives regardless of what challenges come their way.

Staying Married is the Hardest Part also follows the complicated relationship between a mother and a daughter, and how it intersects with Bonnie’s marriage.

Bonnie’s mother struggles to come to terms with her own decision to move from her beloved Southern California home to Canada in 1934 for the sake of her marriage. The disappointment Bonnie’s mother feels in her life choice creates conflict when Bonnie moves to Los Angeles as a young adult to follow her own dreams.

Over the years, mother and daughter come to slowly understand each other, especially when Bob decides he wants to move and Bonnie fights to stay in LA. When the move doesn’t happen, Bob spends more and more time in a small town in Oregon.

Bonnie recounts both marriage and maternal bonds beautifully in a way that touches many families’ experiences.

The passages on Bonnie’s relationship with her mother are extraordinarily moving, as any child can relate to comparing their life to a parent’s, and the sacrifices made to follow a dream.

Bob comes off as quite the character, fitting someone who worked in Hollywood. His infectious humor and love for life fill the pages with engaging levity. But what Bonnie illustrates throughout the memoir is that everyone has flaws, and the choice to stay with someone means asking yourself if you can accept those flaws for the sake of the love and laughter that comes with them.

Bonnie Comfort’s Staying Married is the Hardest Part: a Memoir of Passion, Secrets and Sacrifice navigates the wild seas of married life to reveal its profound rewards. Avid readers of memoirs and contemporary fiction will find much to love about this engaging journey.