“ Love Warrior captures the beauty that unfolds when one woman refuses to settle for good enough, stops numbing or denying her pain, and makes her own rules for love and life.”
BOOK REVIEW
Love Warrior
Laura Rashidi-Yazd 3L Atlanta ' s John Marshall Law School sarah @ atlantalegalremedy. com
When Oprah Winfrey announced Glennon Doyle Melton ' s new memoir as the newest Oprah Book Club pick, saying, " Love Warrior captures the beauty that unfolds when one woman refuses to settle for good enough, stops numbing or denying her pain, and makes her own rules for love and life," she launched another author to stardom. This author, however, had already made it on her own, and like her body of work displays, on her own inspiring terms. You may know Melton from her blog, Momastery, her women’ s empowerment tours, or her first bestselling book, CarryOn, Warrior, all which detail her lifelong
struggle with substance abuse, eating disorders, self-image, and eventual journey to recovery, self-love, motherhood, and marriage.
In this new memoir, Melton picks up her journey after the birth of two more children and completes the story of self-discovery after the collapse of her marriage. Readers will find that Melton grapples with the same real issues we all face, learning to love honestly and deeply in the midst of life. In Love Warrior, Melton reveals that her husband Craig has been unfaithful, yet after the shock of his decade long infidelity, she stays.
“ Love Warrior captures the beauty that unfolds when one woman refuses to settle for good enough, stops numbing or denying her pain, and makes her own rules for love and life.”
Interestingly, Love Warrior recasts ideas presented in The Five Love Languages and Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus in the shadow of a crumbling marriage. The idea is not new; couples give and receive love in different ways – mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Melton takes these ideas but draws back the curtain on her marriage to show how we view sex, communication, emotional intimacy, and parenting with a partner. It is a modern look at the challenges of finding authentic love after you have already said“ I do.”
Love Warrior is the story of marriage, but it is also the version of healing that is possible when we refuse to be complacent in life and instead face pain and love head-on. Melton describes how our ideas of marriage often make it impossible for couples to truly know one another. The book also captures what happens when one couple commits to unlearning everything they have previously known so that they can finally find love.“ You are not supposed to be happy all the time. Life hurts and it ' s hard. Not because you ' re doing it wrong, but because it hurts for everybody. Don ' t avoid the pain. You need it. It ' s meant for you. Be still with it, let it come, let it go, let it leave you with the fuel you ' ll burn to get your work done on this earth,” Melton writes. While the book is not a traditional fairy tale, it is a story that resonates with modern readers, of how when we are brave, we are able to confront pain and love honestly. This is a love warrior, someone who loves deeply through the messiness of life.
Love Warrior is a brutal and tragic message, but a message that authentic love is how couples can ultimately, intimately know each other and claim happiness,“[ g ] rief is love ' s souvenir. It ' s our proof that we once loved. Grief is the receipt we wave in the air that says to the world: Look! Love was once mine. I love well. Here is my proof that I paid the price.” While anyone who follows Melton’ s blog knows that she ultimately left her husband and has found happiness elsewhere, Love Warrior is a telling read for anyone in a relationship contemplating love, loss, or genuine living. Harpo Films, Winfrey ' s company, has optioned the film and television rights to the book; stay tuned, this isn’ t the last you will hear from Melton as she warriors on. ▪
12 March 2017