The Gospel of Marriage is a novel that examines love, marriage, their associated issues, and the conflicts of values that arise both before and after marriage. Those value conflicts occur in the novel through the lives of the principal male and female characters, Edward and Kate, who are in a relationship at the start of the story. That relationship is framed by a mystery that serves to focus the reader's interest through how the mystery is viewed by the two other characters, Gregory and Phyllis, for, through the action of the novel, they both become involved in the lives of Edward and Kate, and, by that association, with the mystery. The ideas about love and marriage and all of the related issues come out through the reader's examination of the lives of Edward and Kate - both past and present for Kate, and through the present life of Edward. But there are numerous texts which are brought into play that extend well beyond Kate and Edward's lives. Examples of how this works are many and various. The title of the novel, The Gospel of Marriage, refers to Kate's performance - she is an actress, a Julliard acting school graduate - in a play by the same name. The entire text of that play, including stage directions, is included as part of the plot of the novel; it establishes its authority through the notion of a Gospel (which is interpreted as any guiding principle for action, in this case, the arena is that of social philosophy). The play is a body of analysis that argues for a view of marriage, love, fulfillment, and many other notions; the concepts in the play stand in sharp contrast to much of what is happening in marriages in the United States today. There are seven acts in The Gospel of Marriage play which amounts to a one-woman monologue given in the context of experimental theater. Each act consists of several sections and, taken altogether, those sections form a plethora of analysis ranging from various philosophers, other plays, books, and the conclusions of sociologists; each of these sources add to the collective story that the novel is telling. Other sources that focus the reader's attention are: love letters between Kate and Edward; from Kate's past, the reader is exposed to a transcript of a radio interview which explores how feminism rose after WW II, and the story of how the modern gothic novel became the best-selling genre for over a decade in the United States; Kate explains how, in the interview, the analysis of the modern gothic novel prompted her to choose her acting career. Through the life story and poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, further themes with respect to marriage, et al, are introduced; Barrett Browning's life and poems also serve as a catalyst for Edward to use his own poetry which is spoken aloud in a conversation between Edward and Kate. There are, then, an extraordinary number of viewpoints; they range from modern research on marriage, to complete plays, as well as portions of plays - short sequences or plot summaries - as well as poetry, novels, and the fictional and actual life experiences of women poets. Together with philosophical excerpts from major French, Russian, Swiss, English, and even Scandinavian writers and philosophers, all of whom inform the plot of the entire action of The Gospel of Marriage, the novel presents a timely and thought-provoking journey for any man or woman already married or anticipating marriage.
About the Author: Earl Ronneberg has authored four books of short stories, two books of memoirs, a book of poetry, philosophy, and a novel. He holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton, having attended that school on an NROTC scholarship; he served for three years as an officer on the USS Hank (DD-702), a general purpose destroyer. After his military service he earned a graduate degree from Stanford and, during 32 years with IBM, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. After retiring in June of 1997, he earned his third master's degree, a Master of Liberal Arts degree from the University of Chicago. Married, with two adult children and three grandchildren, Earl has spent his entire married life of 48 + years in Hyde Park in Chicago. The back cover of The Gospel of Marriage anticipates his 50th wedding anniversary in 2015; it reads as follows: "Oh, it's a long, long time from May to December - But the days grow short when you reach September - When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame - One hasn't got time for the waiting game - Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few - September, November - And these few precious days, I'll spend with you - These precious days, I'll spend with you. Time is stretched when the long year becomes fifty; each week now a year. The horizon of knowing the love of one's life becomes close enough to sense the change of autumn's flaming leaves to a golden anniversary. But the autumn breeze carries lines from within a prayer of Kierkegaard's, to will one thing, during those precious days: 'So may Thou give to the intellect, wisdom to comprehend that one thing; to the heart, sincerity to receive this understanding; to the will, purity that wills only one thing. . . . As the day wanes, may Thou give to the old man a renewed remembrance of his first resolution, that the first may be like the last, the last like the first, in possession of a life that has willed only one thing'. The lines do not arise from the motives of remorse and repentance, but gather up two elements that combine to confess the fiery point from which the transfiguration of the world can begin: love and marriage."