It starts as a dream-come-true. You've met your perfect match! As you gaze at each other through the haze of romantic and erotic attraction, you envision your life as an endless, effortless dance. You're not completely wrong. Married life is a dance-but what happens when the challenges of life cut in and you find yourselves woefully out of step? Illness, child-rearing obligations, job changes, money worries . . . all of these can create cracks in even the most solid relationship. And unless they are faced and dealt with, those cracks can deepen and cause irreparable damage.

In what she calls a "teaching memoir," Arlene Sacks shares with disarming honesty the story of her long, complex, and ultimately deeply rewarding marriage, and how she brought it back from the brink with wisdom, strength, love-and a plan. Her story is sure to resonate with couples at every stage of their journey, and especially those wondering, should I stay or should I go?

As Sacks puts it, "It is in those moments when life is on the line and we genuinely have something to lose that we remember the preciousness of what we have. That is when we figure out how to fight for the life we love."