Foreword
In highly industrial societies such as the United States, the family the basic unit of society has been undergoing a severe strain in recent years. And in the light of massive divorce statistics, it would appear that the very concept of monogamous marriage is under attack.
Both psychologists and sociologists agree that modern urban man feels the shattering impact of marriage strain the most, even though the basic family unit fits well into the modern pattern of suburban family living. But, according to many qualified observers, the basic family unit deprives its members of important sources of emotional security and freedom. The basic family unit, they argue, is too narrow a structure to be thoroughly stable, and its rules are too confining for the well-being of each family member.
Alvin Toffler in his monumental work, Future Shock, says it is the increasing mobility of young American families that is producing dramatic changes in their life styles. No longer do younger people expect or aspire to spend most of their productive working days in the service of one company, as was the tendency in years past. The trend in a high-energy, mobile society, such as ours, is for young workers to travel more and change jobs as they become more skilled often peddling their skills and services to the highest bidder. Along with the tide of changing life patterns, Toffler argues, there is a trend for mobile young couples to marry and remarry often changing partners almost in tempo with passing jobs and scenes.
So goes the argument and prediction.
Certainly this is a behavior area in which there is no right or wrong opinion. It is a matter of individual need in most instances, of personal experience and conviction. And yet, no unbiased thinking person would deny the important role the institution of monogamous marriage had played, and is still playing, in the country's development.
Sociologists and anthropologists remind us that every society has its taboo words and rules of conduct which often stand out in glaring contradiction to those of other societies. Regardless of who might be considered "right" or "wrong", it is important to remember that ofttimes the circumstances of life force the noblest of persons, including those with the best of intentions, to forsake if only temporarily the dictates of conscience and lifelong rigid moral codes.
But those who stumble need not fall; and if they should fall, they need not remain on their knees, reflecting on guilt or jealousy. For if a picture is truly worth a thousand words, an ounce of experience put to productive use is worth possibly more.
Confronting directly the explosive problems of guilt and jealousy to be found in the traditional moral code, this story unfolds a memorable parable of sexual passion and infidelity that brilliantly illuminates our contemporary situation. This novel is a narrative of sustained, intense emotion that almost any sensitive reader will be forced to re-evaluate his or her marriage relationship, and this re-evaluation will, in most instances, result in the reader being thankful for the strength of his own union.
-The Publisher