The 17-Year Itch By Laura Jean Baker Feature Laura Jean Baker finds that being a feminist married to a progressive man isn’t a fail-safe against sexism occasionally intruding in their marriage.
The Slow Regard of a Difficult Past By Krista Stevens Highlight “In my family, love was the slow accumulation of moments in which I was not subjected to great harm.”
Bridget Jones’s Staggeringly Outdated Diary By Rebecca Schuman Feature Nineties relationship books had some serious issues, man.
We Have Always Lived in the House By Victoria Comella Feature In the face of tragic loss, Victoria Comella searches for the home she left behind, only to find it seventeen years later in the last place she expected.
Letters from Trenton By Thomas Swick Feature While striving to become a travel writer in the years after Watergate, Thomas Swick discovered that although writing for a newspaper was educational, there was more to be learned through romance with a foreigner.
How to Be Single By Shelly Oria Feature Shelly Oria shares a manual for life after you’ve left your husband and your girlfriend.
La Otra By Longreads Feature When a woman and her daughter moved in next door, Jaquira Díaz found her world was suddenly turned upside down.
A Woman’s Work: Home Economics* (*I Took Woodworking Instead) By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson tallies the costs and benefits of love and cohabitation as a woman artist living in a patriarchy.
The Cold War and its Fallout By Vincent Czyz Feature A son approaching middle age looks back on a volatile relationship with his father.
A True (Non-Hierarchical, Shared) Love By Mithila Phadke Feature Journalist Mithila Phadke navigates polyamory while falling in love for the first time.
Captive Audience By Longreads Feature When you live alongside anything for a long time — any person, any character, any narrative structure, any screen flicker — you become a part of it and it becomes a part of you.
The Friend That Got Away By Beverly Donofrio Feature Beverly Donofrio looks back on a friendship she hadn’t expected to make — or to lose.
The Man in the Mirror By Alison Kinney Feature In the aftermath of rape, Alison Kinney discovers that a new lover who helps you to heal can just as easily betray you.
Black Disabled Wonder Women Need Love, Too By Britney Wilson Feature Britney Wilson considers the lessons she learned while taking a risk on romance.
Cataloguing the Detritus of Relationships Past By Sari Botton Highlight Essayist Leslie Jamison visits Zagreb’s Museum of Broken Relationships.
Inadvertent Matchmaker Seeks a Love of Her Own By Sari Botton Commentary I was introducing all my friends, but had no idea how to be in a good relationship.
A Finder, No Longer a Keeper By Jenny Klion Feature How finding someone else’s engagement ring helped Jenny Klion let go of her own.
Politics as a Defense Against Heartbreak By Minda Honey Feature Minda Honey assesses the deliberate choices and external factors affecting her dating life.
From One Friendship, Lessons on Life, Death, AIDS, and Childlessness By S. Kirk Walsh Feature S. Kirk Walsh reflects on her friendship with a gay man battling AIDS — how he taught her to grieve her own infertility, and live life more fully.
What to Do With a Man Who Has a Story, and a Gun By Lisa Romeo Feature Lisa Romeo recalls her first college romance, when she was willing to overlook a lot — until she wasn’t.
Fake It Till You Make It By Sari Botton Commentary On the pressure to pretend there’s no fallout after your parents’ divorce.
The Red Zone: A Love Story By Chloe Caldwell Feature A severe form of PMS puts Chloe Caldwell’s new relationship to the test.
The Uncanny Valley of Online Dating By Danielle Tcholakian Highlight Dating after a Big Love ends never feels quite right. What do big loves leave us with, and what do they take?
How to Say You Maybe Don’t Want to Be Married Anymore By Sarah Bregel Feature Sarah Bregel takes a close look at her marriage after two kids, and wonders, how hard is too hard?
How to Replace a Ghost By Alana Massey Feature En route to a wedding, Alana Massey is haunted by the ghosts of relationships past.
Language Acquisition By Diana Spechler Feature Diana Spechler recalls fleeing her life in New York City for a new one with a painter in his village in central Mexico.
Roast Duck Soup for the Chinese-American Daughter’s Soul By Su-Jit Feature Food writer Su-Jit Lin contemplates the role of a favorite dish in her relationship with her immigrant chef father.
The Whistleblower in the Family By Aaron Gilbreath Feature After her father was arrested for fraud, Pearl Abraham began the the slow, painful process of unraveling her Hasidic family ties.
Can Love Sparked at Burning Man Last in Everyday Life? By Maria Finn Feature Maria Finn tries to make sense of the euphoric love she experienced at the annual festival in Black Rock City, while she was grieving her brother’s suicide.
Why the Most Beautiful Poems Defy Understanding By Krista Stevens Highlight “In a poem, we feel what is there, but also what is not.”
