What, exactly, makes a woman “good”? Is it her adherence to her commitments? Her thoughtful care of the relationships in her life? Her professional achievements? In the Twenty-first century, women have learned that we can “have it all,” that we are entitled to all we can earn – a happy marriage, a fulfilling career, a fulfilling sexual life.
Haven’t we? Maryanne MacKiernan does, indeed, have it all – a wonderful husband, beautiful children, a job she loves, good friends and a great bank account. And she manages it all capably and tirelessly, juggling the schedules, the chores, and her tenure requirements as an art professor with efficiency and humor. She has no cause for complaint; everything is fine.
Until she figures out that it isn’t. Soul-shattering orgasms – oh, heck, any orgasms – seem to be the only thing missing from her life that any reasonable woman could expect to have, so Maryanne decides that better sex is the solution to the nagging unease that has begun to plague her, and thus begins the Great Orgasm Quest. Maryanne sets out with her usual determination and careful planning, seducing her husband, visiting Victoria's Secret, and becoming a closet reader of women's erotica (because porn seems so, well, graphic). When she still can’t get what she needs, she finds a good therapist, and then – she finds a better one. But is this therapy, or something else? When Gabriel offers her the opportunity to confront and embrace her own need for vulnerability, Maryanne must make choices she never expected. Could the great life she’s so carefully built for herself be the wrong great life for her?
Smart, funny, and sexy, THE GOOD WOMAN feels both achingly familiar and boldly daring. The novel blends the genres of women’s fiction and women’s erotica to tell the story of Maryanne’s journey from a life of prescriptions – behave in the right ways, and the right things will happen – to a deeper understanding of her own needs and desires, and what she is and is not willing to give up when she must choose between remaining a good woman, or being good to herself.
