About the Book

My Marriage Sabbatical:

A MEMOIR OF SOLO TRAVEL AND LASTING LOVE

This is a book about honoring important dreams, about marital friendship and cherishing imperfect relationships.

This memoir documents Leah’s yearlong solo sabbatical at the age of sixty-one to pursue a personal dream that her husband did not share. We follow her journey, her long-distance relationship and reunions with her husband as well as her surprising discovery of new possibilities for long-term marriage in the second half of life.

My Marriage Sabbatical will invite you to reflect, inspire courage, and perhaps convince you that later life is a perfect time for fulfilling important dreams, renegotiating long-term relationships, and allowing yourself to fully blossom.

Nancy's Bookshelf

Leah’s interview with Nancy Wiegman is available online!

What People Are Saying

  • “A marriage sabbatical! What a brilliant idea! With courage, goodwill, psychological know-how, and a golden, wide-open heart, psychotherapist Leah Fisher dared to propose, negotiate, and carry out a year off from her thirty-year marriage, and managed to enrich herself, her marriage, and the people she met in her travels. Readers will be captivated by this bold, original, audacious experiment, colorfully described with zest, a shrewd, observing eye, and breathtaking honesty.” 

    — Judith Viorst, author of Necessary Losses and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

  • “Leah Fisher tells a tale of two fascinating journeys. The first involves a negotiation with her husband that reshapes their marriage. The second journey includes charmingly described accounts of living in a series of Asian and Latin American cultures. Both parts of this unusual exploration are beautifully written. My Marriage Sabbatical has much to teach us about the challenging but rewarding opportunities for partners to follow their independent dreams within long-term marriages.”

    — Carolyn and Philip Cowan, directors of the Becoming a Family Project and authors of When Partners Become Parents

  • “Long a trusted source for the media on sustaining a successful marriage, Leah Fisher now brings us a kind of Eat, Pray, Love for the faithfully married set. This book is a feast of wisdom for anyone struggling to balance midlife self-expression with marital commitment, and it is essential reading for spouses considering a breakup as balm for a restless soul. Leah not only knows how to counsel couples on marriage—she demonstrates firsthand what it takes to sustain a vibrant, lifelong union.” 

    —Sue Shellenbarger, former Work & Family columnist for The Wall Street Journal

  • “With the insights of a longtime couples therapist, the exuberance of a woman in her sixties pursuing her path, and the sensitivity of a wife committed to her marriage, Leah Fisher inspires us by sharing her solo adventures during a grown-up gap year. In Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Cuba, and Indonesia, Fisher combines community service with exploring new cultures and making friends of all ages. This book is a dynamic blueprint for readers ready to address their own heartfelt desires.”

    —Elizabeth Fishel, author of The Men in Our Lives and Getting to 30: A Parent’s Guide to the 20-Something Years

  • “Leah Fisher has written a book that will touch your heart, open your eyes, and excite your imagination. Her journey is one that many women would love to take. She and her husband reach an agreement that brings a deeply meaningful dream to life. Read this book; you may discover a dream of your own!”

    —Lynne Twist, cofounder of the Pachamama Alliance and author of The Soul of Money and Living a Committed Life

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