Reviewed by Rita Vetsch for Readers' Favorite

Navigating Marital Abandonment written by Elizabeth Durkee is a soulful, emotional and personal journey that Beth has experienced first-hand and shares with other people also going through the same difficult situation.

Beth speaks about the intense emotional hurt that is caused by an extra-marital relationship. Marriage is supposed to be a serious commitment that deeply affects both partners and their family directly. A spouse's choice for infidelity is based on his/her own beliefs and criteria. This is not a moral or honorable choice, but the injured spouse is not to blame. So many of the injured spouses blame themselves, but the spouse who is cheating does not think about the deep pain that the other spouse is feeling at the time. Beth also explains that there is a mentality and pattern of behavior that is evident with infidelity. Once the injured spouse understands the pattern, he/she will have less of a disadvantage in predicting what the spouse might do next. Beth befriends a woman named Sam, who has gone through the same painful experience as she, and she finds a support system. She explains how the children are directly affected and hurt in their own ways. Beth also shares the trauma and excruciating pain that infidelity brings to the injured spouse. There are three types of trauma that people actually experience with infidelity: Infidelity Trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Rape Trauma Syndrome. It takes courage and determination to fight the depression and emotional distress, but Beth is a survivor!

I found this book to be very compelling, raw, and emotional. Beth shares her entire journey through the infidelity and divorce which the reader can really feel and connect with. The behavior signs she listed in this book opened my eyes, and they really made sense to me as a married woman. This is a fantastic book about relationships that everyone can relate to on some level and come away with a sense of empowerment.