What does it take to make your marriage work? In an age when more than half of all marriages end in divorce, according to the Centers for Disease Control, maintaining a happy, healthy relationship might seem impossible at times.

If you feel discouraged, read Happy Wives Club by Fawn Weaver to get renewed strength and a sense of purpose to keep your marriage strong.

In a way, Happy Wives Club can be seen as a counterculture book. The norm in novels, TV shows, and movies is to portray woman as unhappy in their marriages, contemplating infidelity, cheating on their husbands, filing for divorce, or living a post-divorce single life.

There are no desperate housewives in Weaver’s book, just contented woman who aren’t afraid to work on their marriages in order to maintain their happiness. As Weaver herself says, “Happy marriages are alive and well. The cries of their demise have been highly overrated, and couples happily married do indeed exist.”

A Trip around the World

Weaver talked to women in a dozen countries across six continents to get their take on marriage for this book. The women she interviewed have been married for 20 years or longer, so they’re speaking from plenty of real life experience. Weaver discusses a wide range of marital problems and, more importantly, reveals how husbands and wives managed to work them out instead of just throwing in the towel.

Don’t expect a traditional feel-good self-help book. Yes, you’ll feel good after reading Happy Wives Club, but it will be because the stories it contains are so inspiring. It’s a book about women and their marriages, but it also has a travelogue flavor as you journey around the globe with Weaver to places like Croatia, Mauritius, the Philippines and Australia. She shows that even though cultures may be different, the fundamentals of marriage are universal.

Her writing style is so friendly that you’ll quickly forget you’re at home as you have a sense that you’re by her side in her travels. The book is more than 200 pages long, yet you’ll be amazed at how quickly you fly through the pages. There are no slow parts to bog you down, just a wonderfully woven tapestry of experiences and examples.

Affirmations for a Happy Marriage

You’ll want to keep a highlighter handy as you go through this book. It has plenty of gems that work well as daily affirmations, like, “You can either feed negative thoughts or you can starve the suckers” and “In a strong marriage, you are covered in strength and boldness that you’d never have on your own.”

As you can probably tell by the quotes, this book has a lot of application for Christian woman. For example, the latter quote lines up with God’s inspiration for making woman:

Yahweh God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” —Genesis 2:18

Some marital advice books come across in a preachy or condescending manner. Thankfully, Happy Wives Club manages to avoid that completely. It tells the six women’s stories in an engaging and straightforward way.

Instead of making readers feel inadequate, it empowers them by giving them real-life examples to emulate. Instead of thinking, “My marriage can never be like that,” you come away with a sense that if you’re willing to do the work, you can be just as happy as the wives who shared their stories.

A Book for Any Woman

This book is great for young couples who want to be prepared for the trials ahead or those who have been married for a while and need a bit of help and inspiration. It’s also a great bridal shower gift because it’s something a young woman can use in a very practical way in her marriage.

It’s even good for those who are still in the dating game and who aren’t engaged yet because it’s a good reality check for what marriage really is (or should be) all about.

“Happy Wives Club” is relevant to everyone because it shows you how to lay a solid foundation if you’re new to married life and it helps you assess your marriage if you’ve been together for a long while. If you’re becoming too complacent, it can be a real eye opener that helps you appreciate what you have and shows you how to maintain or improve it.