‘Professor Susan Frelich Appleton has brought her characteristically keen perspective to this critical overview of American family law. The book is both sweeping and meticulous: she identifies theoretical moves that underpin all of family law at the same time that she delves into the minutiae of discrete doctrines. Professor Appleton seamlessly moves between the archaic historical practices that still undergird the field and cutting-edge scholarship that propels it forward, and her astute readings give us a prediction for the path family law will take. This book should be mandatory reading for all family law professors.’