In Defence of Infidelity (In Fictional Life)
A colleague and I were discussing a moral dilemma. A thirty-something friend of hers had bumped into an old boyfriend. He was single but she was married with two small children. She loved her husband but felt their marriage had grown stale and she wanted to know if the spark she felt with her ex that night was real. She wanted to know if she should go ahead and have an affair.
I remember rolling my eyes and commenting that her friend would be crazy to risk her marriage over a rush of passion. For a relationship that had failed once before. With a guy she had only known for a year, years ago. Especially because she now had children to consider.
I never did find out whether this woman succumbed to temptation but my debut novel, Don’t Mention the Rock Star, actually touches on a similar subject.
It was only after I’d finished writing it that another author informed me that publishers often steer away from stories about illicit love because they are hard to sell. Readers, apparently, have a strong aversion to infidelity between the book covers, finding it an “objectionable” theme.
Possibly they have never read any of those superb novels by Adele Parks or Tess Stimson.
I agree infidelity is an emotionally charged topic and that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Stories about dangerous liaisons throw up issues many find uncomfortable - betrayal, the loss of trust, the nature of forgiveness. Simply put, it reflects a particularly harsh reality of life.
The theme can also make you question whether the circumstances are ever justified. Is it okay if there are flaws in the original relationship, is it acceptable if their partner treats them badly, is it less wrong if they really love their lover?
I asked a friend of mine, an avid romance reader, whether she likes stories where a character cheats or is tempted to stray.
“I can’t say I do, it’s an immediate turn-off for me, I find it kills the romance,” she replied.
So you've never read Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed?
“Oh, no, I loved that book – it’s one of my favourites.”
"But it’s about a guy being unfaithful to his fiancee and a woman betraying her best friend?"
My friend shrugged and said she couldn't explain why that story worked for her. It just did.
For me the power of Something Borrowed was we knew our sympathies should lie with the wronged party, ie Darcy. But we were skilfully wrangled by the author to instead embrace the undeniable connection between Rachel and Dex. Their love triangle reveals it is not always black and white.
Someone recently emailed me after reading my book, asking how did I manage to write a story where the main characters are married to other people but yet had her rooting for them to get together in the end. “It’s quite a feat to inspire compassion in your readers on such a touchy subject,” she said.
That’s the response I’d love to see in all my readers. But, as I prepare to send Don’t Mention the Rock Star out into the world, I am bracing for those who will shun or scorn it because it does address a painful topic.
But to me it’s not a novel about infidelity – it’s about a beautiful relationship from the past, it’s about why fate sometimes has other plans in mind, it’s about why the real connection of intimacy had nothing to do with sex at all.
Did I enjoy throwing Kellie and Andy together, putting temptation in their way over and over? You bet I did. Would I encourage a friend to do the same? I seriously doubt it. But that’s the difference. This is about fictional characters who need to be tested and pushed to act in ways we’d never advise anyone to do in real life.
I don’t want characters who sit around a campfire holding hands and singing kumbaya. I want conflict. And what better conflict to drive a love story than the one who got away returning to your life to stir things up.
Personally the morals I have in my own life don’t need to be held by the characters I read about. In chick lit, I like my relationships to be like that Facebook status - It’s Complicated.
Do you find it unsettling to read about infidelity – and when do you find it is justified?
Blurb:
They fell in love in an instant … so why have they spent a lifetime apart?
As a teenager Kellie dated an American boy but circumstances meant they went their separate ways. Now he’s back and she’s so tempted to see him again. But two decades have passed and they are both married with children.
And the last thing a celebrity reporter like her needs is the world finding out about her past relationship with a rock star. Especially as Kellie's husband doesn't even know she once dated AJ Dangerfield, lead singer of legendary band Danger Game. And she has no intention of him finding out. EVER.
As Kellie deals with a demanding boss, a bullied son, an infuriating mother-in-law and a best friend who won’t act her age, she finds herself playing a dangerous game. What will happen if her two worlds collide? And is it possible that first love never fades?
Don’t Mention the Rock Star will be published on January 15.
About the author:
Bree Darcy is the pseudonym of Australian journalist Stephanie Pegler. She is the publisher of several popular websites for readers and authors, including Chicklit Club, Connect and We Heart Writing, and also runs the annual International Chick Lit Month event. She worked as a newspaper sub-editor in Perth for about twenty years, and is married with three children. Don’t Mention the Rock Star is her debut novel. See breedarcy.com for more details.
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