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THIRTY-FIVE years of marriage has taught Valerie Robinson a lot about love and respect for one's spouse, parenting and patience. That is enough material for a book like The Marriage Rope , which the bubbly Briton wrote.
Released in February, it is Robinson's first literary effort and took three years to complete. It came after years of giving tips on how to maintain a committed relationship.
“People always came to me about relationship advice, but it wasn't until I felt led by God to actually write the book that I sat down, and put pen to paper to share the tips about what we have done and how you can reach to where we're at; 35 years and still going strong,” Robinson told All Woman.
The other half of “we” is Robinson's husband Paul, known to reggae fans in the United Kingdom as Barry Boom. They were born in London to Jamaican parents and have four children.
Robinson is also a singer who goes by the stage name Valerie Elaine. She has done back-up vocals for many well-known artistes including her husband and The Mighty Diamonds.
Recently, she released her first solo song. Interestingly, it is a cover of country singer Tammy Wynette's Stand by Your Man.
Though she is a relationship coach by profession, Robinson says writing a book was totally different from giving face-to-face advice.
“It was a step by step process, but I was fortunate that one day all the chapters and titles came into my mind, all at once and immediately I just wrote them down. From there, I followed them to where I was led spiritually; so, whenever I had the vibes to write the particular subject I would write, but if nothing came into my spirit, nothing would be written,” she said.
According to the statista.com website, Valerie Robinson's country could use lots of marital advice. The latest statistics showed just over 110,000 divorces in the United Kingdom in 2017.
According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, things are not rosy in Jamaica either. Its figures show there were 16,719 marriages registered here in 2018, a decline of 4.8 per cent compared to 17,561 recorded in 2017.
The divorce rate for 2018 was 20.4 divorces per 100 marriages, compared to 16.4 divorces per 100 marriages in 2017.
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