Jane Williams knows a thing or two hundred about being married to a bishop – and an archbishop. She also knows many other bishops’ wives and an Episcopal husband or two. In this absorbing book, she pulls together the experiences of a unique band of diverse individuals whose common bond is an attachment to the higher echelons of the Anglican Communion.

Bishop’s spouses discuss their lives openly; many for the first time. There are glimpses of struggles with bureaucracy, with feelings of powerlessness in the face of major upheavals, and of frustration at the difficulties of balancing duty, marriage and time to be yourself. Yet the overall impression is of a richness of life and opportunity, a sense of privilege and of grace to surmount challenges none of the spouses imagined or sought.

Marriage, Mitres and Being Myself is a book with a relevance far beyond the small group of people whose lives it explores; it is a story of husbands and wives facing challenges together, even when ‘together’ means being apart for a while; and it is told with gratitude when it would be easy to slip into an attitude of ‘us against them’.

Set against the backdrop of the diverse worldwide Anglican Communion, the stories told here are ultimately those of the partnership of marriage, proving through its tensions and trials the reality of love.