By Love Refined

By Love Refined: Letters to a Young Bride 

by Alice von Hildebrand
226 pages
NonFiction - Marriage 

 

This book is a collection of letters from an older spiritual mentor to a young woman during her first few years of marriage. Each letter/chapter is 2-5 pages and surrounds a specific comment made by the young woman (the chapter title). It reminded me of a reverse Screwtape Letters with good advice being spoken to a christian woman adjusting to marriage. It was an easy format to read and made the metaphysical and theological issues discussed more relatable. I also loved that the young woman's name happened to be Julie!

This book is a great resource for Christians in committed/healthy marriages, who want to better understand and live their marriage vows. It discusses small annoyances and problems, but is not intended to address marriages in crisis.

I love Alice von Hildebrand! She was the wife of famed philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand. She was also an esteemed philosophy & theology professor in her own right. Amazingly she is still alive today at the age of 97! (She was 30 years younger than Dietrich and married him after his first wife passed away.) Her advice through these letters are unlike anything you will read in advice columns today. There are no snarky responses or clapbacks. She gently urges her young friend to carry her burdens humbly, charitably discuss issues with her husband, and continually grow in sacrificial love.

This book is particularly valuable to newly married couples establishing their married lives together. But I could re-read it every few years and still get something out of it.

RECOMMENDED FOR: Engaged & Newly Married Women.