Married Love or Love in Marriage (1918) is a book on reproductive health by Marie Stopes. Banned in the US and scorned by the British establishment, Married Love or Love in Marriage was controversial for its openness regarding sex and the use of contraceptives between husbands and wives. While relatively conservative by today's standards, the pioneering work was an essential, bestselling book that guided generations of men and woman on how to nurture happy, healthy sexual relationships without increasing the stresses of motherhood and everyday life. "More than ever to-day are happy homes needed. It is my hope that this book may serve the State by adding to their number. Its object is to increase the joys of marriage, and to show how much sorrow may be avoided." Working with this goal in mind, Marie Stopes set out to rewrite the rulebook on sexual relationships between married men and women. Published the same year that she opened the first birth control clinic in the United Kingdom, Married Love or Love in Marriage pursued the thesis that desire and happiness could be nurtured within the home between a husband and wife by educating men and women on the use of contraceptives. An immediate bestseller, Stopes' work marked a seismic shift in discourse on women's reproductive health, paving the way for many of the reforms and attitudes some take for granted today. Risking her reputation and leaving behind a successful career in paleobotany, Stopes dedicated herself to the rights of women in England and around the world, for whom the burden of motherhood often proved not only limiting, but detrimental to their physical and mental health. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Marie Stopes' Married Love or Love in Marriage is a classic of British scientific literature reimagined for modern readers.
In the early twentieth century, the topic of contraception was barely discussed in an academic setting, let alone in the private homes of married couples. Into this relative void, Marie Stopes bravely offered her controversial Married Love or Love in Marriage, a guidebook promoting marital sex while advocating for the use of contraceptives in the home.
