Double Happiness
One woman, two men. What if she doesn’t have to choose?
Overcome with guilt about a love affair she can’t give up,
Anna confesses to her husband, Brendan. He is shocked and
devastated but makes the unusual decision to try to accept the
lover, Jeremy, as part of their family.
Told from three perspectives, Double Happiness is a story about
sex, honesty and jealousy – and the challenges of forging a new
kind of romance.
Set in Melbourne over seven years, this lyrical contemporary love
story explores the complexities of non-monogamy with humour
and heart, asking what it’s like to love two, or more, people
equally but differently. What is the effect of time on erotic love?
And what happens when your new lover wants someone else
too?
‘Fascinating, fearless and frank. One woman’s attempt to rewrite the rules of romance in the face of love’s Olympian hurdles and the conundrum of knowing herself. A challenge to Tolstoy’s maxim that all happy families are alike.’
Paul Dalgarno, author of A Country of Eternal Light
‘A morally complex, moving, passionate and often bitingly funny work of autofiction, Double Happiness evokes the everyday and the erotic with equal finesse. This authentic, questing, sometimes savagely reflective midlife crisis novel is Helen Garner meets Miranda July.’
Jo Case, author and critic
‘Rochelle Siemienowicz dissects with surgical precision the murky territory of the ‘happily ever after’, and does so with wisdom, humour and grace. Her lyrical and oh-so-sexy novel does what best novels do – makes you think deeper about how to live your own life. Double Happiness is a sophisticated, mature debut and Siemienowicz is a dazzling writer.’
Lee Kofman, author of The Writer Laid Bare and The Dangerous Bride
‘Wise, affecting and damned sexy.’
Dmetri Kakmi, author of The Door and Other Uncanny Tales
