Adultery, the Forgivable Sin: Healing the Inherited Patterns of Betrayal in Your Family

Everybody but your maiden aunt appears in this somewhat disorganized but ultimately helpful book. Woody and Mia mix it up with almost the entire House of Windsor. Tips to would-be paramours for avoiding triangles, scripts for discussions between cheater and cheatee, pre-relationship contracts outlining acceptable behavior and the ultimate in inner child work (embracing the wounded inner child of the spouse who cheated on you). Weill, a family therapist, and Winter, a syndicated columnist, maintain that cheating runs in families and is done to fill emotional rather than sexual needs, but their analysis lacks depth and is the least interesting aspect of the book. And by encouraging wounded spouses to be more sexually giving to their wandering partners, they belie their point that adultery is not about sex. They do point out that married men aren't the only ones on the prowl--so there is much to study here for the suspicious of both sexes. (July)