Do open marriages actually work, or do they sometimes become a story one partner tells themselves in order to stay?

In this episode of Transatlantic Bookmarks, Ksenija and Sue use Vladimir by Julia May Jonas to debate open marriage, monogamy, infidelity, and the uneasy line between genuine freedom and unequal compromise.

The marriage at the center of Vladimir is technically open: both partners have had affairs. But when the husband’s relationships with students become public, the question becomes more complicated. Did both people freely choose the arrangement, or did one partner set the rules while the other learned to live with them?

We discuss why people marry in the first place, whether monogamy is natural or cultural, the practical and emotional reasons couples remain together, power imbalances in relationships, children and extended family, and the very different ways marriage functions in Montenegro and the United States.

Would you ever choose an open marriage? And can it work only when both partners truly want it? Tell us in the comments.

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• Vladimir by Julia May Jonas: https://amzn.to/4goD9f6

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🎙️ ABOUT TRANSATLANTIC BOOKMARKS
Hosted by European novelist Ksenija Popović and American engineer Sue Graham Johnston, Transatlantic Bookmarks is a weekly literary podcast that uses books as the starting point for conversations about culture, history, psychology, morality, politics, and the questions hiding between the lines.

New segments every Saturday, Monday, and Thursday.

👉🏻 CHAPTERS
00:00 Open Marriages
06:09 Cultural Perspectives on Marriage
10:17 The Practicalities of Marriage

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