The Uncoupling

When the elliptical new drama teacher at Stellar Plains High School chooses for the school play Lysistrata-the comedy by Aristophanes in which women stop having sex with men in order to end a war-a strange spell seems to be cast over the school. Or, at least, over the women. One by one throughout the high school community, perfectly healthy, normal women and teenage girls turn away from their husbands and boyfriends in the bedroom, for reasons they don’t really understand. As the women worry over their loss of passion, and the men become by turns unhappy, offended, and above all, confused, both sides are forced to look at their shared history, and at their sexual selves in a new light.

I anticipated hating this book due to the reviews it got. I also wasn’t fond of the author’s previous novel, The Ten Year Nap. I did however find this book to have an interesting plot with an author that had a very keen eye on social couplings. Her descriptions of the couples relationships were spot on and I liked the idea of the spell being cast on the town. It reminded me of the old adage, “You don’t know how much you miss something until it’s gone.” And in this case the “it” is sex. I didn’t love the wrapped up ending but i did enjoy the mystical aspect and the premise of the book.