"The choice for this character-which was the choice I saw many of my parents' friends have to make-is, Do I stay in this small life that I chose as a very young person to keep my family intact, or do I choose happiness at the risk of upending family stability?"
"I remember being horrified because this was my parents' book, but also enthralled. As a really bookish kid, I remember thinking, I don't need this now, but I'm going to need this one day, and I'm glad I know where to find it."
"In the version of the book that I have, Comfort claims that he came across the source material of the book in the course of his research as a biologist. But, in reality, he wrote it, drawing a lot from a longtime affair that he was having with his wife's best friend."
Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's novel 'Lake Effect' begins in 1977, focusing on a woman's life disrupted by evolving societal values. The protagonist faces a critical choice: maintain her small, chosen life for family stability or pursue personal happiness, risking family upheaval. Sweeney reflects on the influence of literature from that era, particularly 'The Joy of Sex' by Alex Comfort, which she discovered in her parents' home. This book, while flawed, represents the shifting moral codes of the time and the complexities of relationships.
Read at The New Yorker
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