Three days later, she was forced to marry into Chu Clan — she was dressed in a filial attire of a phoenix coronet and qipao. On the wedding night, the groom is on the left, the bride is on the right, and the concubine sits in the middle. He had never thought of fighting with his concubine for her favor, but he had treated her as a thorn in his side, making it difficult for him to frame her. She had lost her husband in a frame-up, but at the same time, she was aware of a shocking secret. His heart had finally died, and he left with a broken heart. When they met again, she was already the favorite concubine of the current emperor, dressed in luxurious clothing. Whose heart was it?

One of the most vexing problems to confront American Orthodox Jewry is where a wife is abandoned by her husband who refuses to give her a Jewish divorce. This work seeks to explain the agunah problem in the United States. It notes that the contemporary agunah problem in America is radically different than that of contemporary Israel and completely different than the talmudic agunah problem. The thesis of this book is that the agunah problem in contemporary America is part of a more general dispute in classical Jewish law as to when marriage should end. Thus, this book surveys how Jewish law seeks to respond to the consent of the other party or without a finding of fault. It concludes by noting that prenuptial agreements can successfully address the agunah problem in the United States since they provide a way for couples to create an image of marriage and divorce by which they can agree to live. Michael J. Broyde is an Associate Professor of Law at Emory University and the Academic Director of Law and Religion Program at Emory University. He is a member (dayan) in the Beth Din of America and was the director of that Beth Din while on sabbatical from Emory. In addition, he is the founding rabbi of the Young Israel synagogue in Atlanta. Professor Broyde is the author of The Pursuit of Justice in Jewish Law and co-author of Human Rights in Judaism.--Amazon.com.

Henry Finlay recounts the transformation of marriage through the eyes of Parliamentarians over the last 100 years, breaking new ground in his account of fundamental changes in modern Australia's attitudes.

Based on a study of over 400 women worldwide, Runaway Husbands: The Abandoned Wife's Guide to Recovery and Renewal, is the first book to explore and offer healing strategies to women whose lives have been turned upside down by Wife Abandonment Syndrome. This Revised and Updated edition expands on the groundbreaking first edition that led to the development of an amazing global community of women working together to recover from Wife Abandonment Syndrome - when a husband leaves out-of-the-blue from what his wife believed to be a happy, secure marriage. Following his sudden departure, he typically replaces the caring he'd previously shown her with blame and anger, leaving his bewildered wife totally devastated. The Revised and Updated edition includes new chapters that discuss the husband's possible Covert Narcissism, the effect of this kind of divorce on the father/adult child relationship and the challenges of co-parenting with an ex following abandonment. Written by family therapist Vikki Stark, MSW, who herself had a runaway husband, the book helps women understand in full what could motivate a loving husband to morph overnight into an uncaring stranger and provides them with the tools they need to move forward and rebuild their lives.

Seventy now-adult children of divorce give their candid and often heart-wrenching answers to eight questions (arranged in eight chapters, by question), including: What were the main effects of your parents' divorce on your life? What do you say to those who claim that "children are resilient" and "children are happy when their parents are happy"? What would you like to tell your parents then and now? What do you want adults in our culture to know about divorce? What role has your faith played in your healing? Their simple and poignant responses are difficult to read and yet not without hope. Most of the contributors--women and men, young and old, single and married--have never spoken of the pain and consequences of their parents' divorce until now. They have often never been asked, and they believe that no one really wants to know. Despite vastly different circumstances and details, the similarities in their testimonies are striking; as the reader will discover, the death of a child's family impacts the human heart in universal ways.

At a time in human history when women and men are more concerned about interpersonal relationships and when there is an extensive questioning of the specific relationship between a woman and a man in marriage, Marriage and Sacrament offers an understanding of how to live out the Christ-meaning and Church-meaning of that relationship so that, by living martially and sacramentally, couples can reveal to the world and to the Church the deeper meaning of all human love. The book examines the relationship among love, marriage, and sacrament; it examines the meanings of the sacrament of marriage, its biblical basis, its history and what happens when it comes to an end; it examines sexual love, indissoluble love, fruitful love, and ecumenical love in relationship to both marriage and sacrament. Marriage and Sacrament is an indispensable resource for pastoral ministers and ministry students as well as all who contemplate or are now partners in marriage.

Editor H. Wayne House introduces a lively debate on varying Christian views of divorce and remarriage. Contributors include J. Carl Laney, William Heth, Thomas Edgar and Larry Richards.