3 Stories, 1 Couch

What do you do when intimacy is lacking between you and your partner? Sinead Moriarty's novel, About Us, seemed to be all my fears about marriage and kids rolled into nearly 400 pages, as she tells the story of three couples struggling with intimacy in different ways who all turn to the same therapist in the hopes of rekindling the intimacy they have lost.

About Us

This book follows Ann and Ken, empty-nesters nearing the years of unknown that retirement brings, Niall, Alice and their hectic life raising four kids, and Orla, a young teacher struggling with intimacy in many aspects of her life. All of these characters struggle within the privacy of their own home, but their stories are interconnected, which is one of my favourite types of stories.

Probably because of my position as a person in my early twenties, I struggled to connect with the characters and their relationship struggles, but not because the book was poorly written. I found Moriarty's writing style to be strong with a good flow, and the story was definitely entertaining. The one problem I did find was that I felt like one type of mother and one type of father was being celebrated. I am not sure if this was an active goal of the author or just my interpretation of the characters she chose, but it became frustrating at times when the stereotype of the emotionally distant working mom was present in multiple variations.

Nevertheless, this was a good read and I think many people will enjoy the story. 3.5 stars! To share your thoughts, review requests or questions, please comment below, email me (theopinionatedbookworm@gmail.com) or follow me on Instagram (@theopinionatedbookworm1).

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