Books to Help Women Get Through a Divorce

It’s done. No more fighting, no more shouting, attempts to make amends, and future promises that will only end up broken. Defeat has been admitted and it is final, nothing else can be done.

When a partnership goes through hardship the first instinct is to try to fix it, but it doesn’t always succeed. Life is complicated enough and so are people, put two together and you have an unwieldy thing that you constantly have to tame by fighting it. And sometimes, it just so happens that you’ll lose that fight regardless of how hard you try.

Rest easy, only shame would be to live in denial about it. Divorce can be a harsh thing before, during, and after the fact that much like the stages of grief must be managed accordingly and prudently. If you are a gal that’s going through the rough patches that a permanent separation deals in, there’s literature to help you out in confronting any stage of it so you come out on top, help yourself in this transition by reading the best divorce books available for women.

#1 After Your Divorce by Cynthia MacGregor and Robert Alberti

It’s over. The divorce is final, your ex is out of your house and—mostly—out of your life. Now what? Are you ready to get on with your life? Do you have dreams, plans, skills, energy for what comes next? And will you be making it happen, or letting it happen? MacGregor and Alberti have prepared a friendly, straightforward manual of advice and suggestions that assumes every woman is capable of handling life on her own. Help for emotional recovery (MacGregor is a “survivor,” Alberti is a psychologist), practical matters (finances, home maintenance), dealing with your ex, helping your children to cope (“we didn’t divorce you!”), and much, much more.

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#2 Solve the Divorce Dilemma by Sonia Frontera

“Solve the Divorce Dilemma by Sonia Frontera, covers an important topic that many women struggle with at some point in their life – whether it is possible to repair a marriage or if it is destined to end. Are you on the fence regarding your marriage, then this book is for you.

This is not the same type of book as you would usually find to discuss the topic of divorce. Instead of a cold, scientific account, Sonia helps the reader to navigate the delicate waters of salvaging a marriage. However, if you discover that divorce is the right option for you, you will also find a warm shoulder to help you navigate through the steps of ending your marriage gracefully.

Solve the Divorce Dilemma is at its heart a book about salvaging a relationship that has deep meaning to you. If you can’t save your marriage, you will be able to save your dignity and possibly maintain a relationship with your husband after divorce. Obviously, maintaining a positive relationship with an ex-spouse is paramount if you have children. Sonia tells it like it is and sometimes that may mean you are reading the book with tears running down your face. ”

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#3 It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way by Laura Wasser

American Divorce Attorney to Hollywood’s A list, Laura Wasser shares practical advice for navigating your separation and divorce respectfully in “It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way”. The book gives a great overview of all stages of the process from the first conversation about separating right through to dating after divorce.

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#4 Better Apart by Gabrielle Hartley

Better Apart offers a fresh approach to navigating divorce. Gabrielle Hartley, a US based attorney, mediator and coach sets out in her book five essential elements of an Elegant Divorce – patience, respect, clarity, peace and forgiveness. Within each of these elements, yoga and meditation teacher Elena Brower, shares personal anecdotes, as well as meditations, breathing exercises and yoga poses to support you. Each section of the book also has a writing and reflection exercise and offers legal wisdom.

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#5 Connect How To Love And Accept Yourself After Divorce by Dawn Burnett

Connect is a foolproof plan to heal your heart, pinpoint your true dreams and desires, and find a meaningful and lasting authentic love for self. The 11 relatable stories take readers on a journey showing them how they can push past fears and struggles and build their confidence, so they can live the life they’ve been dreaming of.

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#6 For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men

“As a divorce lawyer, I can tell you that there is massive miscommunication between the sexes. Women after a divorce need to learn more about how men really think before they get into a new relationship

For Women Only, Revised and Updated Edition: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men by Shaunti Fieldhahn ”

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#7 Disassembly Required: A Memoir of Midlife Resurrection by Beverly Willett

Disassembly Required is Beverly Willett’s story of resurrecting her life after a devastating divorce. In it, she reminds us of the sorrow love can bring us as well as that love—of children, of self—really can conquer all. An uplifting and ultimately triumphant story. (Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of The Knitting Circle and The Book That Matters Most)

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#8 Trash the Dress by Joelle Caputa

We’ve cried. We’ve conquered. We’re telling it like it is. Trash the Dress: Stories of Celebrating Divorce in your 20s features interviews with over 70 young divorcees worldwide. Learn why young women got hitched and then ditched, about their daily struggles, and most importantly, how they’re celebrating their divorces. Follow along as participants trash their wedding dresses, get transformational tattoos, host divorce parties, check adventures off their bucket lists, reflect on lessons learned and even fall in love again.

Tapping into the professional expertise of participants, Trash the Dress: Stories of Celebrating Divorce in Your 20s spotlights top getaway destinations from a travel agent, healing advice from a therapist, steps for rocking the divorcée title from a lawyer, and meditative methods from a yogi. Trash the Dress will guide and inspire as you embark on the most exciting journey of your life thus far: divorce.

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#9 Happy Again! The Art of Positive Separation by Eveline Jurry

“This is the definitive, step-by-step guide to creating a positive separation. In it, you will learn the five steps of Jurry’s proven Positive Separation Method™, and discover how you can navigate the challenging process of divorce, breakup, or separation in an empowered and healthy way.

Combining practical baby steps, self-examination, and consciously-directed vision, this method will help you step out of the chaos and drama and into a vision of a new, happy life. Jurry’s loving but no-nonsense approach will quickly pull you into a positive spiral of forward-moving thoughts, emotions, and actions.”

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#10 The Good Karma Divorce by Michele Lowrance

My absolute, hands down favourite book to guide women through divorce is called “The Good Charma Divorce”. Do not let the title fool you! This is written by a family court judge and has sound advice for navigating a divorce, specifically if kids are involved. Dividing the stuff is “easy” but knowing how to be ok in the years post divorce is the hard part but it starts with how you deal with the process. You need to advocate for yourself while being kind and fair but it doesn’t come to us naturally nor are we trained for this.

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#11 Brand New Me: The Pursuit of Wholeness by Chaute Thompson

Brand New Me: The Pursuit of Wholeness provides real world examples from women who allowed themselves to be vulnerable and told their story of hardships endured while in relationships to learning self love and value of oneself to growing into a better version of self. It helps readers to know that they are not alone on this journey and it provides tips to help readers start the journey of being whole instead of stuck after a breakup.

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#12 MAGIC Words: How To Get What You Want From a Narcissist by Lindsey Ellison

Lindsey Ellison is a relationship coach, radio host, and founder of Start Over. Find Happiness, a coaching practice that helps women navigate through their divorce or breakups. She offers a new coaching program for those newly divorced or separated, and struggling with starting over. For information about this program.

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#13 The Buddha at My Table by Tammy Letherer

Can you come sit at the table? Tammy Letherer’s husband of twelve years spoke these words on a Tuesday night, just before Christmas, after he had put their three children in bed. He had a piece of paper and two fingers of scotch in front of him. As he read from the list in his hand, his next words would shatter her world and destroy every assumption she’d ever made about love, friendship, and faithfulness.

In The Buddha at My Table, Letherer describes―in honest, sometimes painful detail―the dismantling of a marriage that encompasses the ordinary and the surreal, including the night she finds a silent, smiling Thai monk sitting at the same dining room table.

It’s this unexpected visitation, this personification of peace, that sticks with her as she listens to her husband reveal hurtful, shocking things―that he never loved her, he doesn’t believe in monogamy, and he wants to “wrap things up” with her in four weeks―and allows her to find the blessing in her husband’s betrayal. Ultimately, it’s when she realises that she is participating in her life, not at its mercy, that she discovers the path to freedom.

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#14 Unhitched: Unlock Your Courage and Clarity to Unstick Your Bad Marriage by Sunny Joy McMillan

Sunny Joy is a powerful, bright voice on finding clarity and allowing yourself permission to release old stories and beliefs about what marriage is. She does not advise readers to divorce, but instead offers them clarifying information on the decision to do so (think of it like pre-divorce coaching). Whether or not the marriage ultimately ends, readers will find helpful tools for releasing the pressure valve of emotion as one reader put it and clear information helping with the anxiety-inducing decision of Should I stay or should I go?

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