Confessions from an Honest Wife: On the Mess, Mystery & Miracle of Marriage

First-time author Davis, daughter of the highly regarded evangelical apologist Ravi Zacharias, delivers hefty contemplation on marriage as she superbly showcases the personal journeys of 20 married women. Davis emulates the 1960s consciousness-raising groups where women aimed to explore their lives with honesty and share in the commonality of life's experiences. Tackling the ""heart"" issues like sex, intimacy and forgiveness with refreshing frankness, Davis says healthy wives become more fluid over time, take risks by trusting with abandon and stay faithful even when emotional excitement is replaced by a calm rapport. One of her most poignant and telling chapters recounts the story of a woman whose life has been characterized by abuse. She is traveling to a new job, yet of all the things she might desire (house, finances, security, the return of her children from foster care), she longs for physical beauty and the power it confers. Davis's real-life composite characters are transparent in their story telling, not pretending to have all the answers, and this single ingredient makes the book all the more compelling.