“There is a special kind of wisdom that comes with age. Maggie Scarf wonderfully captures those insights that give meaning and joy to life even as the clock ticks. This is a book that can inspire old and young alike.”
—Jerome Groopman, M.D., Recanati Professor, Harvard Medical School author of How Doctors Think

“In writing about long-term marriage, Scarf describes the whole process of getting older in a loving and beautiful way. I kept dog-earing pages to go back to. This is a book of revelations.”
—Susan Cheever, author of Desire: Where Sex Meets Addiction and American Bloomsbury
 
“A celebration of marriage — and in particular of re-commitment in the face of challenges that confront couples as they age. As always, Maggie Scarf is wise and engaging.”
—Peter D. Kramer, author of Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind and Listening to Prozac

“September Songs in a paean to long life and long marriage by one of our best chroniclers of intimate relationships.  Speaking to a nation dedicated to the pursuit of happiness, Maggie Scarf shows that attaining this goal is both more difficult and more feasible than many of our stereotypes about marriage and aging have led us to believe. The surprise lies in knowing where to look.”
—Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice and Kira: A Novel

 “Drawing on fascinating social science research, as well as her own wisdom from a lifetime of observing and thinking about marriage (including her own), Maggie Scarf tells a series of gripping real-life stories with surprisingly felicitous endings. Her unexpected moral: just wait. Things will probably get better.”
—Michael Kinsley, Time columnist

“Given the phenomenal increase in the human life span—nearly 30 years longer on average — the challenge for long-married couples is to keep our partnerships vibrant, fresh, and satisfying.  As one who's about to celebrate her 45th wedding anniversary, I'm grateful to Maggie Scarf for her remarkable new book, September Songs, whose deft weave of up-to-date social science research, engaging personal interviews, and smart, cogent analysis offers readers all the necessary tools to both cope with the stress of aging and enhance their prospects for happiness.”
— Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author of Getting Over Getting Older
 
 “This is the smartest book about marriage I’ve ever read—and the most hopeful!”
—Betty Rollin, journalist and author of Last Wish

“Welcome and inspiring. There are surprises here that come as welcome news—how the long run of any relationship, marriage or partnership may allow rough spots to be smoothed, even through the painful times. September Songs helps us recognize the harmonies in our later years—with the fresh knowledge that though we may be in fact be late bloomers, our gardens can be full of vitality and at times, glorious melodies.”
 —Judy Collins, singer and author of Sanity and Grace