The Rye Bread Marriage: How I Found Happiness with a Partner I’ll Never Understand

Journalist Weissman (God in a Cup) reflects on the tricky art of staying married in her brisk and funny memoir. After meeting at a party in 1967, Weissman and her now-husband, John, a Latvian physicist, embarked on a summer romance. Weissman declined to settle down, however, and they didn’t reconnect until 1982, when they got married. Despite significant personality differences (he’s tied to his Latvian heritage, she’s firmly American), the couple shared a love of good food, so they “built a life centered around the table that accommodated our melded family and our oddball selves.” Their professional lives converged when they began making and selling rye bread together—a food at the intersection of Weissman’s Jewish heritage and her husband’s Eastern European upbringing. As a result, Weissman came to better understand her husband. The prevailing tone is light, but Weissman doesn’t shy away from serious topics, including John’s trauma as a WWII refugee, his eventual diagnosis with prostate cancer, and the impact of his bipolar disorder on their relationship. The result is a witty celebration of marriage that’s sure to resonate with anyone who’s taken the plunge. Agent: Eleanor Jackson, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Aug.)