‘The end of our 17-year marriage wasn’t a blazing row or an affair

We’re taking a look back at some of our favourite and most popular Lifestyle stories of 2024 , giving you a chance to catch up on some of the great reading you might have missed. In this story from October, Katia Vlachos recounts the final straw that broke her marriage. She writes, “I suspect many midlife women feel as trapped as I did, but with three children I didn’t think I could break free.

I’m so glad I did.” I am sitting with my husband Viktor* in our fifth and final couple’s counselling session. “I think you should consider separating,” says the therapist.

There’s silence – this may have been the answer I wanted, but I wasn’t expecting it. She continues: “There’s too much baggage between you and it doesn’t look like either of you are willing to let go.” The fact we’re paying for her professional opinion clearly means our marriage – which brought us three beautiful children then aged 12, 10 and four – is not exactly in great shape.

But I’d assumed that if a split was coming, one of us would have to ask for it..