BOOK REVIEW: Redeeming the Post-Affair Divorce
Reviewed by Tim Tedder
Summary
When infidelity ends not only a marriage but also the life you thought you were building, the pain can feel unbearable. Betrayal alone can fracture the heart, but when it’s followed by abandonment or divorce, the devastation deepens—leaving questions of worth, identity, and faith in its wake.
In Redeeming the Post-Affair Divorce, counselor and infidelity specialist Linda J. MacDonald, M.S. draws from more than thirty years of clinical experience—and her own story of being betrayed and left behind—to guide readers through the layered trauma of this double loss. With clarity and compassion, she helps readers understand the emotional, spiritual, and psychological wounds unique to post-affair divorce, face their grief without shame, dismantle lies about their value, and rebuild both their faith and identity.
Through practical wisdom, honest storytelling, and biblical insight, Linda offers a roadmap for healing and renewal. You may not have chosen this story, but it doesn’t have to be the end of yours. Redeeming the Post-Affair Divorce invites you to discover how, even in heartbreak, a work of redemption can begin.
Review
Some of you have made use of Linda MacDonald’s earlier book, How to Help Your Spouse Heal from Your Affair.
Linda has once again written with the rare combination of clarity, courage, and compassion that has marked her work for decades. Redeeming the Post-Affair Divorce is written to a very specific audience—the Christian who was betrayed and abandoned by their spouse—and anyone who fits that description will not find a better resource to help them heal and grow.
Linda writes not as a distant clinician but as someone who has walked through the same fire. Her wisdom comes from both professional insight and lived experience, weaving psychology and theology into a message that feels both practical and sacred. She names infidelity for what it is—a moral failure—yet she writes with such grace that no one feels condemned. This book gives betrayed believers language for their pain, context for their confusion, and hope for their future.
As a counselor who has long specialized in affair recovery, I’ve appreciated Linda’s work for many years, valuing her contribution to the field and to the community of those seeking real, redemptive healing. Redeeming the Post-Affair Divorce will be the resource I am certain to recommend first to those who fit this painful, often-overlooked category. It’s a lifeline for the faithful heart left behind.
Quotes
“Infidelity doesn’t just break a vow; it fractures the soul of the person who trusted you with theirs.”
“There is no excuse for an affair, but there are reasons—and they all trace back to character.”
“You are not powerful enough to make someone cheat, nor powerless to heal from what they’ve done.”
“Betrayal is trauma. The shaking, the sleepless nights, the racing mind—these are not weakness; they are wounds.”
“For those of us left behind, the task is not to understand why they broke their vows, but to learn how to live whole again.”
“Cognitive dissonance turns a once-honest man into a self-justifying stranger.”
“You can’t reason with someone who’s rewriting reality to quiet their conscience.”
“Faith after betrayal isn’t naive; it’s fierce—it believes that God can rebuild what people have destroyed.”
“The story isn’t over. What they destroyed doesn’t define you; what you rebuild will.”
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