Two Times as Much Love
A Separation and Divorce Story for Parents and Children
Modeling healthy parent-child relationships and emotional responses in the wake of a divorce, Two Times as Much Love is a warm novel.
In Eileen Beltzner’s edifying novel Two Times as Much Love, a child and his parents survive a divorce and learn to manage their feelings.
Alexander, a third grader, is ecstatic to receive the puppy of his dreams, Sir Percival. But then his parents separate and he’s forced to move between their apartments each week. Worst of all, his father’s apartment doesn’t allow pets. As Alexander acts out, experiences bullying, and falls into a doom mindset, his parents work together for his sake.
Alexander’s story is the compassionate basis for the book’s advice related to weathering complicated parent-child relationships. His parents teach him mindfulness techniques for responding to his emotions in productive ways. As such, Alexander grows from a reactionary boy who is infuriated by the unfairness of his situation into someone who is capable of perceiving his role and agency in the events around him.
Alexander’s transformation is used to illustrate how personal growth takes place. Indeed, there’s a clear didactic element to the book: The generally applicable, simple therapeutic practices that Alexander is introduced to are embedded into his narrative arc across dozens of short chapters, which together have the warm energy of an oral story. Anecdotes, morals, and anthropomorphized animals flesh the book’s approach out further: Sir Percival, who grows from a puppy to a mature dog across the book, is shown observing his owners, caring for Alexander, and reflecting on the growth in each family member.
The prose is direct and pointed, making raw emotions palpable and precise. The mistakes that people make are articulated with clarity, as are the other ways they could have chosen to behave. Deep psychological knowledge underpins this work: All of the characters struggle with their feelings, respond to negative emotions in negative ways, and prove capable of learning from their mistakes. The book also models how emotions like anger can give rise to both damaging and healthy responses, resulting in profound lessons about how people interact with the world. A lengthy appendix gathers the mindfulness exercises together, representing them in replicable format. These include breathing and movement techniques, thought exercises, and ideas for slowing down, evaluating one’s thoughts and feelings, and reassessing ingrained responses.
Blending narrative storytelling with mindfulness practices, the allegorical novel Two Times as Much Love is about coping with the heavy emotions of a divorce.
Reviewed by
Willem Marx
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
