Praise for
Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes of a Joyful Journey
Recommended by AARP Magazine among its “Books for Grownups: What Our Generation Wants to Read”
Publisher’s Weekly Review March 16, 2009:
In her first book, essayist Bram convincingly disputes the common belief that there's no life after divorce. At age 41, the mother of three young children, Bram was in a loveless marriage. But she was surrounded by people who insisted it would be hell on her and her children; even the marriage counselor she and her husband saw presented her with studies about the irrevocable trauma divorce inflicts on children. But Bram was out to prove them wrong, and in her memoir, she recounts the steps she built to create a new life and take joy in finding her own true self. Whether slogging through legal paperwork, arranging custodial visits or re-entering the world of romance, Bram put her sons first, and they all came through intact. For anyone facing divorce, Bram's frank and optimistic tale shows that one can not only survive divorce but thrive in the new possibilities life will offer. (Apr.)
From the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
“ … Divorce lawyers who recognize that the emotions are the driving force in all divorces should consider recommending “Happily Ever After Divorce” to their clients for inspiration and hope. Divorce laws and legal procedures are important, but a wounded spouse needs much more than legal advice during this difficult period in the lives of so many families”
(click here for full review)
From Single Minded Women
If you are a newly single mom or in the middle of a divorce, I highly recommend you read Jessica Bram’s book; Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes of a Joyful Journey.
Bram’s writing is engaging, honest and above all inspirational. I passed her book on to a friend who is struggling with finding her own way after her recent divorce.
(click here for full review from single minded women)
From SinceMyDivorce.com
“Jessica’s message about divorce is … about celebrating the good that can from divorce. There is no denying that divorce is difficult and painful but she sees it as a solution not a problem. She sees it as transformational and an opportunity to leap forward into a better future. The book would be a thoughtful gift for a friend facing the end of her marriage or considering that possibility.”
(click here for full review from SinceMyDivorce.com)
From Women's Memoirs
I’ve just finished reading Jessica Bram’s memoir, Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes of a Joyful Journey and am eager to share my thoughts about it. Like many readers of our blog, I know that the act of divorce is painful. Nothing about it seems joyful, even if it is what you want. Yet that is the perspective that Jessica brings out in her writing.
(click here for full review from Women's Memoirs)
From Harrassedmom.com
I received a book. It was a book about divorce.
I have never read a book on divorce. For two reasons – when I was newly seperated the days were dark and I was too self absorbed to want to read anything that told me how to be happy and adjusted. I was quiet happy being dysfunctional and emo …
(click here for full review from harrassedmom.com)
From the Examiner.com
There are no easy answers in life. But, if you’re lucky, there are occasional road maps that provide alternative routes to make the journey a little less bumpy. Jessica Bram’s jocular, witty, and poignant book, Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes of a Joyful Journey, is a how-to for divorcees needing a little navigation …
(click here for full review from the examiner.com)
From Bookopolis
This book is Jessica Bram's memoir about her life in the aftermath of divorce and its repercussions on the family and most of all herself. This book takes a complex and serious subject, and tries to look at it from a lighter and more positive point of view. Through the use of short chapters and vignettes, Bram lets readers inside her private life so that she can impart some of the wisdom she has gained over the years.
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From The Domestic Diva
The last book on our release list today is Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes of a Joyful Journey (Kindle Edition) by Jessica Bram. The book is the personal story of a mother of three small children stuck in a marriage that she isn’t happy with. Courage is her best friend as she decides to leave her husband and begin the road of starting over. While one would think that this book would be about all the pains of divorce it is actually more about how it is a healing process of beginning a new chapter. Jessica shares how one can successfully co-parent after divorce and that life isn’t over after a failed relationship.
Review in DivorceSaloon.com
“Jessica Bram, award winning radio commentator and essayist, has been featured in the New York Times and other noteworthy publications. She has written a new book about divorce. It is not the typical preachy how to book about divorce. It is a sweet memoir that simply tells one story … I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was in for quite a treat … (click here for full review from divorcesaloon.com)
Mary E. Andreu, author of Illegal: Growing Up Unwanted in America
It was the title that first attracted me: Happily Ever After Divorce. As someone who once bought a decorative pillow with the words "Happily Ever After" embroidered in demure cream, and tossed it on my marital bed hoping that the pillow would make that wish could true, I keenly felt the pain of thinking that my own impending divorce would kill my dreams of happily ever after.
Jessica Bram, a witty and honest writer, is here to tell you that there's a lot people aren't telling you about your divorce, and most of it is actually pretty good news.
Ms. Bram doesn't sugar-coat the pain, fear and confusion that come through the process of tearing one home into two. In there are all the gut-wrenching legal battles that feel so much like being under seige, the guilt at what she's doing to her children, the anger at the man who was supposed to love her forever now turning into an enemy. But the resounding message throughout each lovely chapter is, "I made it, and so can you." It is a genuinely uplifting book. By the time you get to the chapter "Friends With My Ex-Husband," you feel like although it can be dark during a divorce, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
If you're expecting a "how-to" of happy divorce, this isn't the book for you. It's a series of stand-alone first-person essays about one woman's experience. But in many ways, it's even better than a how-to. It's certainly more personal, touching and well-written. You feel like you're talking to a sister or old friend who has gone through what you're going through - and is here to let you know that everything will be okay.
At times hilarious (the chapter on eclipse-chasing in Europe with her young boys is not to be missed), often poignant but mostly hopeful, Happily Ever After Divorce is a book you'll want to read again and again and pull out in your darkest nights. By the time the author finds love again in "Then Comes Love" (you hoped all along that she would, but were not always sure, since she seems to really love being single), you feel like someone has shone a light on the map, and you no longer feel you're in alien territory alone.
This book is an engaging, charming and fast read. I recommend it highly.
Joyce Maynard, author At Home in the World andTo Die For
“Jessica Bram has written the book I wish I'd read twenty years ago, when I embarked on the lonely, scary and guilt-inducing journey of divorce, in a landscape filled with finger-wagging doomsayers. Without ignoring the sorrow that comes with the death of a marriage--and the complex and occasionally brutal experience of shepherding children through the breakup of a family--Bram offers radical news: The journey can bring not only pain but relief, transformation, and happiness.
“I'd recommend this thoughtful, wise and tender book to any man or woman going through divorce. Keep it next to the bed, to read and reread during those moments (and they will come) when you ask yourself "Will I ever feel OK again? Will my children be damaged forever?" Good news awaits.
Dalma Heyn, author of Marriage Shock: The Transformation of Women into Wives and The Erotic Silence of the American Wife:
“Going from the tidy, coveted married-with-kids scenario to divorced-and-winging-it is a bitter, hellish journey for many. Not so for Ms. Bram, who, after her marriage ends, finds herself slowly resurrecting pieces of her lost self, reconnecting honestly with loved ones, and creating a life in which she feels like herself again. It is a triumphant journey: the transformation of a wife into a woman.”
Dale Atkins, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and relationship expert frequently seen on NBC’s “Today Show”, author of several books including Sanity Savers: Tips for Women to Lead a Balanced Life:
“Jessica Bram’s Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes of a Joyful Journey, is an open, honest, touching, frequently humorous collection of smart essays about what every woman needs to know…what it is like to go through and get through a divorce while keeping yourself not only intact but strong, and secure. Ms. Bram shares her journey and along the way we see how this process fills her with awe and appreciation.
“Women reading her essays will feel less alone. They will empathize with Ms. Bram’s process and feel inspired and empowered as they witness her roller coaster of emotions that came from the realization that just because a marriage is ending, life not only continues but in many ways, truly begins again. Ms. Bram recognizes and shares with the reader the importance of self care and self confronting. She presents the value of getting along with her ex-husband not just because it is better for her sons but also because it is better for her. Her candid tone and accessible style invite the reader to want to know more about her as they find out more about themselves in the process.
“By understanding how Ms. Bram approached her divorce, her ex-husband, her children, her employment possibilities, her social life and life in general, readers will learn ways to approach their own situations with a fresh eye and confidence. She offers the reader choices about how to live their lives and to consider divorce because it just may be the best option.”