As a freelance journalist for newspapers and magazines, I focus primarily on women's issues, sociological trends, and general human-interest sories. My articles and essays have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Self, and The Washington Post.

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The Love They Lost: Living with the Legacy of Our Parents' Divorce (Delta, 2001) ia a personal history of, by, and for the first generation of divorce. Drawing on extensive interviews with 120 adult children of divorce, The Love They Lost gives voice to a generation's struggle to reconcile the emotional blueprints their parents left them with the lives they want to build as adults. Weaving reporting and memoir, storytelling and social observation, The Love They Lost is essential reading for every adult child of divorce who longs to make peace with the past and build a rewarding life --- and for everyone who cares about the future of the American family.

The book has been featured in Time, People, USA Weekend, Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, CNN, Lifetime, WNYC, among others.

Praise for The Love They Lost

  • "Haunting ... this is the book all parents --- divorced and married --- should read."
    The Washington Post
  • "An important work that sheds new light on the faces of an American generation."
    Kirkus Reviews
  • "Anyone contemplating divorce, or marriage for that matter, will think twice about the health and well-being of their children over the long haul after reading this intensely personal examination ... this cohesive and thoughtful commentary offers a sense of hope."
    Publishers Weekly
  • "A realistic yet inspiring look at the impact of divorce."
    Dallas Morning News
  • "Well-crafted, insightful, and informative, Staal's story is more interesting than most novels."
    Paul R. Amato, co-author of A Generation at Risk
  • "A groundbreaking book that may well become a classic. It says important things, and it is beautifully written. It is difficult to put down ... Buy This Book."
    Psychiatric Services (American Psychiatric Association)
  • "It's not surprising that the wisest words on divorce may come from a child of divorce herself."
    USA Weekend