Oct

18

Read It Now: THE MISTRESS CONTRACT by She and He

2011 at 5am     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

mistress contract, adultery book

Published October 18, 2011 by Unbridled Books 

 I’ve been talking about it for months, and IT’S FINALLY HERE!

*muppet arms*

A  memoir, The Mistress Contract begins with the agreement a woman (known here as She) signed with her wealthy lover (He) in 1981. Created at the woman’s suggestion, the contract states that she will provide her lover with housekeeping and sexual services, and in return, he will provide a separate home for her and cover her expenses. What follows are transcripts from conversations they recorded privately over the next twenty years (they are in their 70s and still together today) in which they discuss their relationship and the sexual and power dynamics that defined it.

The couple talk in bed, in the car, over coffee, after going to the movies. They quarrel about why she is reluctant to tell him what pleases her and whether their arrangement is revolutionary or really quite old-school. They consider theirs an affair after the 18th-century model (readers will recognize shades of Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White here), except in their case (thanks to feminism!) she *does* have options beyond the dichotomy of impoverished spinster/kept woman. And THAT, the availability of other paths, is what makes this woman’s choice—and it IS an active choice—to become her lover’s “sexual property” so compelling.

This is a book that raises more questions than it answers. Questions like: Is this the ultimate expression of feminism or the ultimate subversion of it? Are the couple creating a new kind of intimate relationship, one that is modern in its old-fashionedness, or is theirs the oldest trick in the book? And what do the dynamics of their arrangement say about relations between men and women in contemporary America?   

The Mistress Contract is incredible, provocative, and challenging. It demands to be read and reread, deliberated over and discussed. It’s the kind of book that will have you waking up your partner for previously taboo conversations, and I promise you, your book club will be pouring extra wine, dishing on a whole new level, and doing your damnedest to figure out the identities of the anonymous couple. (No, I don’t know, either. I tried and tried, but their editor wouldn’t spill.)

This is not a book for everyone, but for the right readers, it offers a way into contemplating the making and meaning of unconventional relationships. If you’re open to the questions it asks, you simply can’t help but be changed in some way by The Mistress Contract. And really, you should buy a copy if for no other reasons than 1) you know you’re curious, and 2) it’s sexy AND smart.

Related posts:

  1. The Book Lady’s Buzz: THE MISTRESS CONTRACT
  2. The Book Lady’s Best of 2011: Memoir & Biography
  3. Read It Now: THE UNCOUPLING by Meg Wolitzer
  4. Book Review: The Other Woman edited by Victoria Zackheim
  5. Book Review: Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies
Filed Under Book Reviews
6 Comments
 

Comments

6 Responses to “Read It Now: THE MISTRESS CONTRACT by She and He”

  1. Melissa on October 18th, 2011 11:21 am

    This is coming up next on my TBR list–I already have my copy. Can’t wait! :)
    Melissa´s last [type] ..The Marriage Plot

  2. Larissa on October 18th, 2011 7:48 pm

    Sounds like a great book to read! thanks!
    Larissa´s last [type] ..How to get rid of scars- fast and easy!

  3. Books are my Boyfriends on October 19th, 2011 12:42 am

    Muppet arms indeed! This sounds so freaking fascinating.
    Books are my Boyfriends´s last [type] ..CHRISTENSEN ROCK: A GREAT MAN by Kate Christensen (is my Boyfriend)

  4. Joni Rodgers on October 21st, 2011 8:16 pm

    I was totally intrigued by this book, and I hope book clubs glom onto it and discuss the bejeebers out of it. (And then Jell-O wrassle!) It’s come up in a number of conversations since I read the galley this summer, including last night after I saw the documentary “Miss Representation” that actually raises some of the same questions from a very different POV. The future of feminism is in the hands of a generation that doesn’t quite understand what it is. This book is as timely as “Mad Men” in that way. Oy. Don’t get me started. Rebecca, I need to make a trip there specifically so we can sit in a bar and talk about this book for three hours.

  5. Rebecca Joines Schinsky on October 21st, 2011 8:43 pm

    DOOOOOO IT, JONI. That would be awesome.

  6. shahar on October 22nd, 2011 9:33 pm

    My next book on my list :)
    shahar´s last [type] ..Wedding photography’s ten commendments

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