But You Seemed So Happy: A Marriage, in Pieces and Bits

In these piercing essays, Harrington (Amateur Hour) performs an autopsy on her deteriorating marriage and her decision to divorce her husband of 25 years. “We all hear the dramatic stories of divorce, but we don’t hear much about boring divorces. Or perfectly okay divorces,” she writes. Harrington’s divorce was just that: absolutely devoid of drama. There were no “affairs... [or] nervous breakdowns,” just the realization that she simply wasn’t the same person as she was at 27, when she and her husband joined “The Path” of marriage that all their friends were on. Two children later (chronicled in a hilarious essay titled “Now That We’ve Had a Baby My Terms and Conditions Have Changed”) the passion faded, and, later, the “divorce conversations” set in. After much hand-wringing, though, Harrington and her husband both found peace in knowing their decision to end things was for the good of their kids, too: “Did I want them to learn about marriage from this marriage?” In her compassionate treatment of a touchy subject, Harrington flips the divorce narrative on its head to underscore the beauty of choosing one’s own path. Those struggling with the decision to stay or leave a marriage would do well to pick this up (and grab a highlighter). Agent: Ryan D. Harbage, the Fischer-Harbage Agency. (Oct.)