For Claire Doolittle, mother of five, life has become one
very long series of "have to's". Feed the family, clean the
house, take care of the pets, go to work, and have
obligatory sex every Sunday night with Ward Cleaver. Well,
not the real Ward Cleaver, but rather the man formerly known
as Jack Doolittle, Claire's husband, who during the past
decade has transformed from a passionate, affectionate and
fun-loving man, into a hyper-critical, self-absorbed
killjoy. Claire knows that thousands, even millions of
people have sex every day and enjoy it; in fact, she's
pretty sure she used to be one of them, but for some reason,
she can no longer recall what it feels like to look forward
to having sex. In reality, it's merely another chore to be
done as quickly and painlessly as possible so that she can
get to the one thing she does look forward to -- sleep!
But Claire's uninspired life changes the day she receives an
email from her college boyfriend, Todd, the man she was
planning to marry before he unceremoniously dumped her for
someone else. Now Todd is back in her life, asking Claire
questions she's not prepared to answer and reminding her of
the vibrant, self-confident woman she used to be before Ward
set up residence. Suddenly, life with a husband that she
still loves but doesn't particularly like seems unbearable,
especially when she begins to suspect that Jack might be
seeking companionship from a young, pretty co-worker. Is
Jack having an affair? Does he still love her, or is she
simply a glorified maid and housekeeper?
When Jack announces he's going on a business trip to Miami
and that Claire is most definitely not invited, she takes
matters into her own hands. She books a plane ticket to
Miami and plans her own mini-vacation at a nearby hotel
where she can soak up some sunshine, get a relaxing massage,
and spy on her husband. What she discovers, however, just
might change life as she knows it, forever.
SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER is as clever as its title. Jenny
Gardiner dares to delve into the dark underbelly of
marriage, answering the question "What really happens when
'happily ever after' doesn't last as long as one might
hope?" While Claire's emails will have you rolling on the
floor, and the upbeat supporting characters provide a great
counterpoint to Claire's often pessimistic outlook, the
heart of the story is in the painful honesty with which
Claire faces the hard work necessary to make a marriage
succeed. You'll want to believe that love really can
conquer all.
Claire Doolittle realizes her life hasn't quite met up with
her expectations. Overwhelmed with the demands of
motherhood and life in general, it doesn't help that the
funny, romantic and thoughtful man she once married has
turned into a real-life version of Ward Cleaver, the
famously dull, bossy father from the 1950's sitcom Leave it
to Beaver. And the last person in the world Claire ever
imagined having to sleep with for the rest of her life is a
man whose sex appeal more closely resembles that of George
Washington than George Clooney.
Throw in an ex-fiance who returns via e-mail to try to woo
Claire back with promises of what was, and a sexy young
colleague of husband Jack's, whom Claire suspects of some
sort of hanky panky, and you have the ingredients for a mid-
life crisis that threatens to plunge Claire's world into
chaos.
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