There are three people in Juliet’s (@Reprobatemum) marriage. Herself, her husband, and her boyfriend, Sam. She says it's one big, happy family, sharing childcare, a dog... and her bed. They each tell their story here:
"What’s remarkable about this whole scenario is not that I have a husband who’s prepared to share me, but that I have a boyfriend who is. Tom’s had the best part of a decade with me under the same roof, and for both of us it’s liberating to be able to take the odd break from family life. He’s not always thrilled about my gallivanting, but he understands what I get from the escapism of a new romance. But it takes a whole other level of acceptance to take on a relationship that comes with a husband attached.
We face opposition, but there is a thrill in rejecting a societal norm. And love works in mysterious ways. If Tom’s fear is that I’ll one day leave him, then Sam’s is that we can’t build a future together. As for me, I’m scared that I’ll end up losing them both, my reputation and ultimately the respect of my children. It’s all very well to assume that the rest of the world should accept what makes me happy, but the reality is that society has rules about relationships for a reason, and it’s perhaps foolish of me to think I can bend them without getting people’s backs up."
Sunday Times Magazine article in full here. Andrew Sullivan debate on re-imagining marriage with Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) here and below:
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