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Jill Brooke
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Jill Brooke is a stepfamily coach and the playwright of "What's Eating You?" She is also a writer for FirstWivesWorld.com, a site that helps women contemplating, navigating or moving on from divorce heal through self-love, smarts and humor. She has been a contributor to CBS" The Early Show and a former on-air CNN correspondent. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Forbes FYI, Chicago Tribune, Harper's Bazaar and New York magazine. She has also been the editor in chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazines and written columns for AdWeek, Metropolitan Home as well as such rivals as the New York Post and The New York Daily News while miraculously keeping on good terms with both papers. Her skill in diplomacy is why she is an expert on divorce, as well as living with her son and two stepdaughters in a loving stepfamily for over a decade.

Blog Entries by Jill Brooke

Nora Ephron Taught Us How to Live and Die

(90) Comments | Posted December 29, 2012 | 10:01 PM

In reflecting on all the people who passed away this year, I am thinking of Nora Ephron and how this witty, wise and loving woman taught us not only how to live but also how to die.

I last saw Nora Ephron earlier this year at the memorial for best-selling...

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Fifty Shades of Grey Paints Divorce In Truthful Tones

(8) Comments | Posted August 10, 2012 | 2:01 PM

Think Fifty Shades of Grey's Anastasia Steele is an innocent? "Laters baby," as Christian Grey would say. Since her character is a child of divorce, her innocence would have been stripped long before meeting the bondage loving billionaire. Yet the pain of her mother's divorces taught her skills that helped...

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Is Lust Ever Worth Breaking Up Your Marriage?

(407) Comments | Posted July 24, 2012 | 3:45 AM

"Regrets. I've had a few," Frank Sinatra crooned in his famous song. But how often do people regret their divorces?

Even thrice-married Donald Trump once revealed to a former employee that he wished he didn't detonate his 15-year marriage to Ivana Trump by having an affair with...

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What All Single Divorced Mothers Can Learn From Barack Obama's Mom

(129) Comments | Posted May 8, 2011 | 1:40 PM

For any single divorced mother hoping that her child will succeed despite the drawbacks of having to carve out a career while organizing grocery shopping, school work, penny pinching and getting enough sleep to combat exhaustion, may I present President Barack Obama as the poster boy for possibility.

After all,...

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The Moment I Knew

(2) Comments | Posted April 6, 2011 | 9:38 PM

One night I was sick with the flu....I used to joke that I had the curse of competency in that I required very little and was happy to be a full time cheerleader, chef, social director and career girl who also brought home some bacon too.. But this night, coughing...

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Did Feminism Cause Divorce?

(114) Comments | Posted March 17, 2011 | 12:58 PM

In her latest book, A Strange Stirring, historian Stephanie Coontz rewinds the tape to the 1960s, when Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique, and points her historical lens on this book, which many believed sparked the feminist movement which in turn caused divorce rates to spike. Did Betty...

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AshleyMadison's CEO Thinks Affairs Help Keep Marriages Together--Do You?

(360) Comments | Posted February 25, 2011 | 11:21 AM

Do affairs lead to divorce? Noel Biderman, the CEO of AshleyMadison.com, the web's premier site for wannabe adulterers, doesn't think so. With 8.5 million users and paying customers in over 10 countries including the U.S., Canada, Australia, England, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand and Sweden, Biderman (a former sports...

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The Biggest Mistake Women Make With Alimony

(303) Comments | Posted February 4, 2011 | 10:17 AM

It kind of boggles the mind that Camille Grammer, the soon to be ex-wife of Kelsey Grammer--the prolific and talented actor in such hits as Cheers and Frasier--can wave her manicured hand dismissively at a reported $40 million payout and say she wants more for the 14 years she was...

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Raoul Felder: Divorce Lawyer Weighs In On Celeb Splits, Divorce News Of The Day

(295) Comments | Posted January 21, 2011 | 11:32 AM

Raoul Felder has been called the "Duke of Divorce," and with good reason--he's known for duking it out in court for his clients. After 30 years as America's most famous divorce lawyer, representing such clients as Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Peter Cook, the wives of Patrick Ewing and writer Tom Clancy,...

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Who Gets The Pet In A Divorce?

(67) Comments | Posted January 10, 2011 | 3:47 AM

It is no secret that divorces can derail into a real dog fight. But nowadays it's more likely that Fluffy or Rover could be part of a custody battle. "No way," you may laugh, thinking your ex is barking up the wrong tree? Well think again.

According to the...

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A Decade of Crimes of Passion

(31) Comments | Posted December 31, 2010 | 12:23 PM

You are not alone in thinking that divorce is a bizarre experience that can stir all sorts of passions--and lead to crimes (this one being the latest). For over a decade, I've researched the bizarre ways in which people push the limits of the law (and sometimes even...

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Isn't Love Complicated? A Look At The Jilted, The Jilting and The Jolted Public

(15) Comments | Posted December 24, 2010 | 11:18 AM

Two families have been attacked and we have witnessed the crime scene.

Except it wasn't discussed as a crime in the New York Times but instead as a celebration of "love conquers all and forget the kids."

Last week, the New York Times 'Vows' section published the wedding...

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If You Were More Religious, Would You Have Stayed Married?

(126) Comments | Posted December 17, 2010 | 10:40 AM

With marriages feeling as disposable as Bic pens, one starts to wonder what keeps people together permanently so that "till death do us part" becomes more of a reality and not an unrealistic dream. This was a conversation that took place with a group of my girlfriends gathered together for...

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How Do You Mourn An Ex-Spouse?

(181) Comments | Posted December 8, 2010 | 5:46 PM

I don't know why but I'm riveted by the fact that John Edwards was by his ex-wife's bedside.

Before Elizabeth Edwards died, did she say, "Promise not to marry Rielle Hunter?" pointing out that there is historical precedent to this request since Thomas Jefferson's wife asked her husband never...

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When Kids Of Divorce Travel Alone, What Do You Do? 10 Tips

(8) Comments | Posted December 3, 2010 | 11:12 AM

It's one thing when you're flying solo--actually it can be fun--but not when it's your kid. Your heart suffers more turbulence than a plane caught in a Colorado snowstorm. But for divorced moms or dads, sending their little ones off alone on a plane to meet the other parent for...

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Putting the "Give" in Thanksgiving When Your Kids Are With Your Ex

(4) Comments | Posted November 23, 2010 | 10:30 AM

Considering that custody agreements are written so that parents alternate every Thanksgiving, some divorced moms and dads will be without their kids and feeling adrift and alone. After all, not all divorces are amicable and many exes are more likely to be passing insults vs. turkey gravy. Therefore, it is...

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Pink and Carey Hart Have Reconciled. Why Do So Many Other Couples Divorce After Separating?

(12) Comments | Posted November 17, 2010 | 8:51 PM

Pink and Carey Hart certainly have something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. The spunky spiky-haired couple who separated in 2008 are now back together and recently announced that Pink, the singer of such hits as "Please Don't Leave Me," is three months pregnant.

As Hart, who...

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Adult Kids of Divorce Are Demanding That Their Elderly Parents Stop Acting Like Teenagers And Get Prenups

(27) Comments | Posted November 8, 2010 | 1:26 PM

It used to be that parents were the ones counseling kids to have pre-nups and not be silly romantics. But these days -with 500,000 new marriages a year between couples over the age of 65 - it's more likely that it's the adult kids of divorce who are worrying about...

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The Gores' Separation Begs the Question: How Does Any Marriage Last a Lifetime?

(84) Comments | Posted June 2, 2010 | 12:20 PM

Al and Tipper Gores' surprise separation announcement has exposed "An Inconvenient Truth." In today's environment, it's very hard to keep a marriage together for a lifetime.

There doesn't seem to be much support encouraging the continuity of marriage if you take the temperature of commentators. The New York Times had...

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Outdoor Entertaining with Style: Go Out on a Limb (That's Where the Fruit Is)

(6) Comments | Posted May 29, 2010 | 10:26 AM

Apples in the orchard
Mellowing one by one;
Strawberries upturning
Soft cheeks to the sun;
Roses faint with sweetness,
Lilies fair of face,
Drowsy scents and murmurs
Haunting every place;
Lengths of golden sunshine,
Moonlight bright as day,--
Don't...

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