And what does it take to make them last a few more decades?
In the last few years there has been a surge of divorce in older women. Between 2002 and 2008 the Office for National Statistics estimates that the number of divorced women over 45 has jumped by a third. So what is making long term marriages break down? Is there such a thing as an enduring relationship? And what does it feel like if you are left newly single after 20 or more years of companionship? Linda Kelsey, former editor of Cosmopolitan and SHE, has just published 'The Twenty Year Itch', a novel with these themes, based on her on own experience. She talks to Jenni about the problems of long-term relationships.
'The Twenty Year Itch', by Linda Kelsey, is published by听Hodder, ISBN: 978 0 340 963340