Tag: Marriage

Landscape of a Marriage

More often than not the sacrifices, intellect, and devotion of the partners of famous personalities are forgotten. They live in the shadows of the many accomplishments of these stars. In Landscape of a Marriage, Gail Ward Olmsted gives life to Mary Olmsted who was the wife of the famous American landscape architect, Frederick Olmsted. When Mary lost her first husband to tuberculosis, she turned to his family for help with raising three young kids. What she received in return was nothing short of a blessing. Her deceased husband’s brother, Fred, offered to marry her. Although this was a marriage born out of obligation, it soon transformed into a beautiful union of love. As Mary and Fred overcame the early conflicts of marriage, they became stronger as a couple. Together, they weathered many storms that life threw at them: loss of loved ones, financial upheavals, and emotional turmoil. Amidst the chaos, Mary stood tall like an unwavering soldier holding the fort in Fred’s long absences. Unaware of her contributions, she extended all the credit to her husband. Toward the end, however, the realization that she was the integral part of his success became the highlight of her journey.

She’s Mine by A.A. Chaudhuri

She’s Mine by A.A. Chaudhuri is a psychological thriller that explores the dark side of marriage, infidelity, and motherhood. For the world, Christine had it all: a good and devoted husband, a successful career, and stunning looks. However, there was a void that only her lover, who was not her husband, could fill. The physical attraction between Christine and her lover was so strong that she could not resist this raw magnetic attraction. Although she knew it was wrong, she continued the affair even after giving birth to her first child — a beautiful daughter named Heidi. Then, one day, this bundle of joy, her daughter, was abducted while she was busy talking to her lover on the phone.

The Women of Great Heron Lake

Written in the historical subgenre of fiction, The Women of Great Heron Lake by Deanna Lynn Sletten connects two women who married into the same Madison family but existed decades apart from each other. When, after over a year of fighting pancreatic cancer, Nathan passed away, her wife, Marla Madison felt free. After marrying Nathan, she had quit her job and devoted her life to caring for her daughter, Reese, and her husband. Now that Reese was a twenty-years-old adult and her husband had passed away, suddenly, she did not know what to do with the ocean of time available to her. Outside her family, she hadn’t formed any real connection with people. With nothing else to do, she threw herself into renovating her mansion. It was during one of these renovation times that she found the journal of the first Mrs. Madison, Alaina. As she delved deeper into the journal, she shivered at the eerie similarities between her and Alaina.

Sister of My Heart

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, the genius storyteller, pulled out yet another masterpiece from her magical hat of creativity: Sister of My Heart. Even though Anju and Sudha are cousins, their love for each other surpasses that of the real sisters. Anju — the outspoken, straightforward, and rebellious one — balanced out Sudha — the beautiful, soft-spoken, and compliant. Since their fathers died before the girls were born, they were raised in a matriarchal household under the watchful eyes of their mothers and their aunt.

Small Talk and Simple Things

Small Talk and Simple Things: Real Life Stories that will inspire you to take a chill pill towards “Arranged Marriage” by Meryl Mathew is a curation of twelve short and sweet real-life stories with the central theme of arranged marriage. One of the short stories, The Unaware Mistress revolves around Rahul and Maya. After just a couple of dates, they clicked. While Maya dreamed of a beautiful future together, Rahul kept disappearing every now and then. Since he was not on any of the social media platforms, the normal convenience of locating anyone with a couple of clicks was not available to her. Finally, when she got a hold of him, she insisted that he talk to his parents about her and that they get married. Her parents had already begun their search for a suitable partner for their daughter by creating her profile on a matrimonial website.

No One Knew by Renee Olivier

In her memoir No One Knew, Renee Olivier rips open the many emotional wounds that a sociopath inflicted upon her. Joe entered into Renee’s life when she had been single for thirteen years. He swept her off her feet with his honeyed tongue and love talks. The man was skilled in convincing her that she was the love of her life and that he would die without her. With no reason to suspect the man, Renee dreamed of a bright future with him.

Fatherless, Fearless, Female

Being born as an illegitimate daughter to a woman who was way ahead of her time, put Mary Charity in a complex position. As much as she wanted a father, her mother did not wish to be married. Finally, she accepted her reality and vowed to not let her own child, Billy, be raised without a father. However, fate intervened and she found herself a widow at an early age. Along with an unbearable emotional trauma, his death brought financial troubles in her life.

Something Old, New, and Crystal

Right now, while talking to her husband, Sahil, Zoya wasn’t sure if her life had started or reached a standstill after marriage. On the whole, he was a hard-working and generous man who didn’t have a wandering eye — a rare combination, if you ask me. Who am I? Well, you’ll know soon enough. For now, consider me a mind-reading fly on the wall.

Because her Guardian Angel says so!

Before you start wondering how do I know Avani so well, let me introduce myself. This may come as a surprise to you, but I don’t have a name. Now, for the bit that would either make you smirk or smile, depending upon how open you are to the idea of a Guardian Angel. Regardless of your opinion on the idea, I am just that. A Guardian Angel. We don’t have names. Generally, we address one another, which is very rare, by the way, by our respective child’s name.