One of my wife’s best friends calls this her favorite book on marriage:

Elisabeth D. Dodds. Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. Laurel, MN: Audubon, 2003.

John Piper says of the book, “I desire that all the theology I embrace make me a better husband and a better father. Elizabeth Dodds helped me see this more clearly in her portrayal of the Edwards family.”

So how could I not read the book after all that?

The book is edifying to read, but I should mention two warnings:

1. The author is not a professionally trained historian, so the historiography can be a little shabby.
2. Sometimes the author misunderstands the theology that the Edwards celebrated, and she consequently misinterprets some events. (Noël Piper points this out in her foreword.)

Fortunately, the copy I read includes footnotes throughout the text by contributing editor John Hannah, an Edwards scholar who teaches at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Related:

1. My favorite biography of Edwards = unabridged | abridged
2. My second favorite biography of Edwards = part 1 in this book (free PDF)