Women with Alcoholic Husbands

April 1, 1992
One of the best books on codependency in a long time, because it is not exactly about codependency but rather is about behavior that has been labeled "codependent." Asher has studied women who are married to alcoholics--a classic codependent situation--to uncover how they defined the problem and how they chose to live with it. She uses these wives' personal experiences to answer some bigger questions: What are the dynamics of the marriage? What is it like to live with chronic, serious problems? What happens to the wife's identity? How does she cope? What are the processes she undergoes? How does she accept it and define herself? In taking this approach and placing these women married to alcoholics in a social context, Asher turns the idea of codependency inside out: Instead of looking at how the wife contributes to the alcoholism of her husband, she looks at how the husband's alcoholism affects his wife. Fairly scholarly in approach, her revealing, thoughtful book is suitable for laypersons as well as professionals. Yet, because her sample size is so small, her conclusions can't be applied to a bigger picture. Still, they are useful as starting points for new ways of thinking about codependency. ((Reviewed Apr. 1, 1992))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1992, American Library Association.)