Well, Twitter nearly broke yesterday under the sheer weight of Jennifer Aniston memes following the news that Brangelina is no more. For those living (happily, I’m sure) far from the ceaseless thrum of social media and needing a translation, this means Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are getting a divorce, and that Jennifer Aniston is supposed to be thrilled to hear it.
I’m sure Jennifer Aniston isn’t that small-minded. Though married – apparently happily – to Brad Pitt when he famously fell for Angelina at some point before, during or after filming Mr and Mrs Smith, according to whom you believe, Jen’s had twelve years to get over it and is now married to someone else.
Still, we probably all feel a touch of schadenfreude at the news that this famously perfect couple have crashed and burnt – but a lot of us are a bit scared too. If Pitt and Jolie can’t make it, with amazing looks, trillions in the bank, lofty social consciences and all those children, then what chance do the rest of us have, struggling not to burn our frozen pizzas of an evening, bickering over the remote, hating each other’s relatives and failing to send the kids off to school in matching socks every morning? If you feel the sad answer is ‘not much’, then a book I’ve just been sent, Uncoupling by Sara Davison, might be just the thing.
Sara Davison is a life coach and also a Certified Divorce Coach. The book sets out a clear programme on how to survive and then thrive after a marriage break-up. One of the many things I liked about it, though, was the way she gave due weight to making every effort to save your relationship before binning it. Regrets about not trying hard enough to salvage your marriage can definitely carry a toxic load into any future relationships.
Sara’s book is extremely heartfelt as she has been through a divorce herself. She is very honest in facing up to her own difficulties in that marriage (as well as her husband’s suspected infidelity) but the book will suit anyone in any circumstances who feels they have come to the end of the road. Cheeringly, she does mention plenty of instances of couples – or even lone husbands or wives – who came to her for help and found themselves back on the right path again, after much hard work, of course.
If you’ve woken up this morning thinking, ‘well, if Angelina can’t hack it with Brad Pitt, why should I put up with my husband’s snoring/infidelity/slobbishess?’ then this could definitely be the book for you. And, who knows, if anyone buys a copy for Brangelina, maybe they’ll do a Burton and Taylor, and give the whole thing another go.
Uncoupling by Sara Davison is published by Piatkus at Littlebrown.