Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 35:2 (Spring 2021)
Article: Book Review "Marriage In The Middle: Embracing Midlife Surprises, Challenges, And Joys" By Dorothy Littell Greco (Intervarsity Press, 2020)
Author: Margaret English de Alminana

Book Review
Marriage In The Middle: Embracing Midlife Surprises, Challenges, And Joys
By Dorothy Littell Greco (Intervarsity Press, 2020)

Margaret English de Alminana

Margaret English de Alminana holds a PhD from the University of Wales. She teaches theology at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, and serves as co-pastor at Central Assembly of God in Auburndale, Florida. She has contributed to several books and journals, including authoring Kathryn Kuhlman, a Theology of Miracles (Bridge-Logos, 2021) and the article, “Incarcerated Women, Reflections on Their Stories,” in the spring 2010 issue of Priscilla Papers. She and her husband, Marty, have three children and four grandchildren. She is passionate about prayer and seeing women rise to their full measure of calling.

Marriage in the Middle: Embracing Midlife Surprises, Challenges, and Joys, by Dorothy Littell Greco, offers couples personal wisdom and perspective on marriage in middle age. Greco weaves together compelling first-person narratives with the stories of many aging couples from diverse ethnic backgrounds to provide insight, vulnerability, and hope. Although not explicitly focused on egalitarians, this book addresses role expectations and fairness issues that can sabotage equal unions and hinder them from flourishing.

Books preparing couples for success in marriage in general are plentiful, but far fewer help couples face the uncertainties of midlife. While other books on marriage at midlife take a more clinical approach or, conversely, are completely subjective, this book blends the two approaches. Greco examines marriage at middle age from a counselor’s perspective with personal and intimate relational narratives. This interesting blend of approaches makes the book personal, readable, and genuinely helpful.

Based upon years of coaching married couples, as well as her personal struggles, Greco believes that navigating the many challenges at midlife (from ages forty to sixty-five) can be daunting but rewarding. She writes, “Midlife can often leave us feeling like we’re out in the middle of the sea in a tiny boat with a single sail. Though we have little power over the frequency or intensity of the storms that rage around us, we do have tremendous agency in how we respond” (3). Greco’s wisdom and advice shows the reader how to restore that sense of agency that could help marriages flourish through these turbulent waters.

From bedbugs to infidelity, Marriage in the Middle offers balance to women who are feeling a bit lost and alone as their bodies change and as regrets and missed opportunities surface. Midlife can be a time when unmet expectations loom large, and strength and patience seem reduced. Greco encourages women to focus on the following trai...