Keys to the Kingdom by Allison A. Armstrong

Allison A. Armstrong is the founder of PAX, a company committed to educating women about men and teaching women how to create a different, more effective relationship with men. PAX is an acronym for Partnership, Adoration and Xtasy as well as being the Latin word for Peace. By teaching women to view themselves and their responsibilities in relationship differently, PAX’s programs help women create the relationships they have always longed for while both honoring men and claiming their own power. Allison leads women to a new brand of feminism that respects and cherishes men while using a woman’s unique power to claim the life and relationships she deserves.

Keys to the Kingdom is a fictional work that uses storytelling to educate. Most of the teachings Allison shares in her keystone course Understanding Men, Satisfying Women revolve around a shift in perspective and changes in communication. In Keys to the Kingdom, an elderly woman, Claudia chooses a younger woman to mentor n the knowledge she has of men. Claudia has decades of experience in her own marriage as well as a fount of knowledge passed down and expanded upon by generations of women in her own family. The woman she mentors, Karen, is struggling in her own nineteen year marriage. As Claudia shares with Karen, we see the results as Karen makes adjustments to her own thought processes as well as changes in what she’s contributing to her marriage. Keys to the Kingdom is an intriguing journey through the salvation of a crumbling marriage that offers ideas and perspectives that can be used by the reader as well.

I have attended Allison’s workshops and gotten amazing results personally. I loved each of the workshops though, honestly, many of them were challenging. I often found them uncomfortable as I learned new more effective ways of interacting with men and realized so many things I had been doing that made my life and my relationships more difficult. Being such a fan of the classes, I was expecting to love the book. Not quite.

From a standpoint of conveying information, it’s thorough. The main pertinent points of the concepts are relayed. The format of meetings and conversations between Claudia and Karen is conductive to being educational and conveying the data of Allison’s concepts clearly and with examples. From a fiction standpoint it’s a bit dry. I liked the characters but I didn’t really connect with them and it felt like it dragged a bit. Also a warning, there are segments in the earlier chapters that sound anti-feminist. Had I not taken the classes and had a full view of where this book is going I probably would have put it down and never picked it up again. So be warned, keep reading. Even though it seems a bit odd and the book doesn’t quite pull off the flow of true fiction, the ideas are really valuable and not completely elaborated upon until the end. So hang in there – it’s worth it.

That being said – I don’t actually recommend this book. It’s a bit dry and stilted. I hear the CD version is horrible so please skip that too. Writing isn’t Allison’s strong suit. Where she really shines is on stage. The ideas, research and techniques she has are absolutely invaluable. They give you a whole new lease on your relationships with men. Not just romantic relationships either – relationships with sons, fathers, brothers, co-workers, your mailman, the list goes on and on. This information can radically change the way you interact with men and the results you get with them. I’d strongly recommend going to a PAX workshop. If you can’t swing the time or the money for the workshop, get the book and suffer thru it. It is so worth it.


Reviews:
“Alison’s work speaks to the next step in the evolution of the women’s movement, a movement that thankfully is leading us, full circle, back to partnership and a unity while still celebrating the many strides that feminism has afforded us.” - Alanis Morissette, Singer-Songwriter

"By using the knowledge and skills gently taught in this book, peace between women and men will be more easily attained." - John Gray, Ph.d, Best-Selling Author, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

Inside the Front Cover:
... Karen lay curled against Mike, listening to him snore softly. She was almost giddy with excitement. Who would have thought? Claudia would have thought, she told herself, Oh, I don't know about that, she mentally argued back, reliving the lovemaking that had recently concluded. Well, she does call what she knows the "keys to the kingdom"...

Whether or not Claudia knew the power of what she had told Karen that day, Karen was more grateful, already, than she could have imagined. In place of the tears that she had become used to, a smile accompanied her to sleep.

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"Until we transform the quality of relationships between men and women, we can't begin to resolve the issues we face in our world today. As a man, I pray that women everywhere read and take to heart this book. I also learned a great deal about myself. A must read for anyone interested in living a powerful life!"
- Carl Zaiss, International Business Consultant, Educator, and Author of true Partnership-Revolutionary Thinking About Relating To Others


Back Cover:

Claudia Lambert is an elderly woman with an unusual history: her family has been studying men and their behavior for five hundred years. Karen Trevini is a a school teacher struggling in her nineteen year marriage. A chance encounter between these two women leads to an extraordinary exchange of information that transforms Karen's relationship to all men, and changes her husband's life forever.

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Alison Armstrong is the creator of the nationally recognized Celebrating Men, Satisfying Women workshop. Thousands of people, men and women, single and married, have benefited from her exceptional understanding of men and their behavior.