The Second Bridge

WHY DO SO MANY RELATIONSHIPS FAIL-EVEN WHEN LOVE IS PRESENT?

Why do intelligent, well-meaning people keep choosing the wrong partners, repeating the same relationship patterns, or feeling emotionally unfulfilled in marriage?

The Second Bridge is a powerful relationship book about love, marriage, and emotional maturity-designed for people who want healthy, lasting relationships, not just romantic beginnings. Drawing on real research, coaching psychology, and lived experience across Africa and the United States, this book reveals why love alone is never enough-and what truly sustains commitment.

The Second Bridge is not a romance manual.

It is a deeply practical, research-informed guide to understanding why we love the way we do-and how to love better. Drawing on original research conducted across Africa and the United States, lived experience, coaching practice, and culturally grounded wisdom, Abas Alhassan challenges the myths we have inherited about relationships, love, marriage, and commitment.

WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK UNIQUE:

• Research-backed insights from 225 couples across the USA and Africa
• Cross-cultural perspective revealing universal relationship truths
• Brutally honest personal story of a 35-year marriage that failed-and what I learned from both the ending and the new beginning
• Practical tools you can use immediately: The Agreement Audit, assessment worksheets, discussion questions for couples
• Real talk about money, sex, children, religion, in-laws, and the hard conversations nobody wants to have

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF:

• You're engaged or newly married and want to build it right from the beginning
• You're in a long-term relationship that's "fine" but not flourishing
• You communicate well but still feel disconnected
• You're considering divorce and need clarity on whether to stay or go
• You've been divorced and are ready to try again-but smarter this time