Making marriage work book description by the end of world war i the skyrocketing divorce rate in the united states had generated a deep seated anxiety about marriage this fear drove middle class couples to seek advice both professional and popular in order to strengthen their relationships in making marriage work historian kristin celello . Kristin celello making marriage work a history of marriage and divorce in the twentieth century united states chapel hill university of north carolina press 2009 75 160 165 7 davis more perfect unions 9 10. In making marriage work historian kristin celello offers an insightful and wide ranging account of marriage and divorce in america in the twentieth century focusing on the development of the idea of marriage as work throughout celello illuminates the interaction of marriage and divorce over the century and reveals how the idea that marriage requires work became part of americans collective consciousness. Download citation making marriage work a history of marriage and divorce in the twentieth century united states by kristin celello review peruse any magazine stand and you are bound to find