08 - A Book About a Sexless Marriage > Likes and Comments

A book about a sexless marriage.

wow. I feel like Popsugar woke up today and chose violence.

I can't wait to see what everyone suggests here, because my mind is a blank.

In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, he's married, and the book never discusses them having sex, so I'm going to start the listopia with that one!!


Listopia list is Here: A book about a sexless marriage.

Could be a lavender marriage, a ghost bride situation, nuns (married to Jesus)

Also I've definitely read a few historical romances where the husband dies before the marriage is consummated, and it's a whole thing. Lisa Kleypas had one, I'll try to remember what it was

Could also be a portrayal of an asexual couple. Sexless doesn’t necessarily mean a loveless or doomed relationship. I’m going to try for this angle.

I don't know whether The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton would work. [Trying to fill prompts with classics or kids books]

I feel like a lot of the books from last year's married couple who don't live together might work. Whether trial separation of working apart.

I might try Rebecca for this prompt, haven’t read it before so I’m hopeful the ghost wife works.

Angie wrote: "Could also be a portrayal of an asexual couple. Sexless doesn’t necessarily mean a loveless or doomed relationship. I’m going to try for this angle."

I think this is a really good idea!

Raybearer would kinda work for this. It's not a traditional marriage, but it does have an arrangement where our FMC is expected to bear an heir for the emperor and he's ace. They love each other deeply but there's no sex involved.

This year I read a spy novel, Upton Sinclair's Wide Is the Gate, for a married couple living apart. As near as I can tell, the sequel PRESIDENTIAL AGENT (Lanny Budd #5) should work for this one.

Unfortunately, like several of the books that are good fits for me on this prompt list, it's super long!

For me, I definitely think this lends itself to an ace relationship or stealing from the married but living apart prompt from this year.

ETA: or a marriage of convenience, maybe historical? Or a marriage where one partner is gay but chooses a hetero marriage for appearances.

I suppose there are some books in which the sex is not mentioned (children's books?) Do those count, or should we know 100% it's a sexless marriage?

I didn't like this book, but a couple years back I read Three Women and one of the three titular women was living in an unhappy sexless marriage.

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer
The protagonist is currently pregnant, but also separated from her husband for the duration of the book so I think this could work.

The Magician's Assistant
I just remembered this book, and this would most definitely work for a sexless marriage

I like the lavender marriage interpretation best. Cinema Love looks perfect, or The Bachelor's Valet (bonus flowers on the cover for the garden theme!)

Sasha wrote: "I like the lavender marriage interpretation best. Cinema Love looks perfect, or The Bachelor's Valet (bonus flowers on the cover for the garden theme!)"

What is lavender marriage?

The marriage in Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence and I believe an unconsummated marriage in Middlemarch by George Eliot.

For ATY I am reading The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV. Richard II's second wife was a 6 year old French princess.

LeahS wrote: "For ATY I am reading The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV. Richard II's second wife was a 6 year old French princess."

This looks very interesting. Thanks for putting it on my radar!

I don’t know if this is the one they had in mind when they wrote this prompt, but there is a marriage in Buckeye that is not totally sexless but pretty close to. Enough that it’s a point of contention for one person in the marriage.

ETA: while not trying to spoil anything, because of certain events happening in the book, there is a period of time in which the marriage is totally sexless, so it definitely counts in case the way I worded the above is too wishy washy for anyone lol.

I'm currently reading Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, and there is a marriage that ends when the parents find out their daughter is still a virgin.

Bea wrote: "What is lavender marriage?..."


A marriage of convenience between a man and a woman with different sexual orientations

One of Evelyn Hugo's marriages in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo could count for this.

Gillian wrote: "Raybearer would kinda work for this. It's not a traditional marriage, but it does have an arrangement where our FMC is expected to bear an heir for the emperor and he's ace. They lo..."

Thank you for this one! Going to be my pick for the prompt.

I just read and it would count for this!

I was originally going to read The Ghost Bride for a prompt this year, so I think I'll read that for this.

If anyone enjoys Manga or wants to try it out I Want to be a Wall, Vol. 1 is about a gay man marring an asexual woman.

Thanks!

Mackenzie wrote: "If anyone enjoys Manga or wants to try it out I Want to be a Wall, Vol. 1 is about a gay man marring an asexual woman."

Gillian wrote: "Raybearer would kinda work for this. It's not a traditional marriage, but it does have an arrangement where our FMC is expected to bear an heir for the emperor and he's ace. They lo..."

I love the sound of this. Onto the list it goes!

Amanda wrote: "I just read and it would count for this!"



Oh good to know! that's on my TBR, I'll pencil it in for this (along with my other option: Lady Chatterley’s Lover - it'll depend on what mood I'm in)

I think Wide Sargasso Sea will work for this, too - I'm debating whether I want to use a reread for the challenge.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo features a lavender marriage, though (view spoiler)[their relationship is briefly sexual to produce a child (hide spoiler)].

In A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev, the FMC is married as a very young child to a boy only a little older to her, and they have never lived together. The story starts when her husband's brother comes to convince her to agree to a divorce or annulment.

Another option is any book about Anne of Cleves and Henry VIII. Henry annulled his marriage to Anne on the grounds that it was unconsummated. (History suggests they at least tried on the wedding night, but also suggests that was also the last time.)

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory is the only book I've read about Anne of Cleves, but I'm sure there are others.

Has anyone read Peony in Love? I saw that recommended elsewhere as a ghost marriage.

Dea wrote: "Has anyone read Peony in Love? I saw that recommended elsewhere as a ghost marriage."

I didn't care for Peony in Love . (view spoiler)[ A large part of the plot was that her surviving family needed to complete one simple item in order for her to rest in peace, and a series of increasingly improbable coincidences kept that from happening, to the point where I was rolling my eyes every time she got her hopes up. (hide spoiler)]

I saw in the Facebook group this one counts

Jennifer wrote: "I saw in the Facebook group this one counts "

Technically speaking yes that would count, at one point they do stop having sex, but I personally wouldn't recommend it.

The Bickleighs' marriage in Malice Aforethought is described as "loveless," but I guarantee you, those two are not having sex. At least not with each other.

I'd argue Lysistrata fits the prompt.

Sounds like Earthlings by Sayaka Murata fits the bill - "She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal."

In The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer, which was a 5 star read for me, one of the main characters considers herself asexual. She marries a good man, but they keep separate bedrooms and are not intimate with each other.