cover image Tempted Women: The Passions, Perils, and Agoniecs of Female Infidelity

Tempted Women: The Passions, Perils, and Agoniecs of Female Infidelity

Carol Botwin. William Morrow & Company, $22 (252pp) ISBN 978-0-688-11646-0

Botwin ( Is There Sex After Marriage? ) tackles a topic still taboo to many: female infidelity. Basing her observations primarily on 250 responses to a survey she conducted, she draws such conclusions as: 50% of married women have cheated; the male lover is usually married; women are more likely than men to end a marriage over an affair and less likely to end the affair; and affairs usually start as friendships. In this sample, the male partner is often the woman's boss. Using an entertaining collection of case histories, Botwin defines types of relationships (including the ``everything but'' affair in which there is no sex), examines the situations and psychological factors that prompt women to affairs and suggests factors that predict whether a woman will cheat. While Botwin is neither moralistic nor judgmental, her authority is seriously limited by the narrow constraints of her research and by such stereotypical generalizations as ``obsessed by the relationship . . . women have their lovers constantly in their minds'' and ``wives in affairs are restless and distracted creatures.'' First serial to Redbook. (Jan.)