Sleeping with Ward Cleaver
Somewhere along the line, Claire Doolittle’s handsome, carefree, exciting husband, Jack, turned into staid, solemn, know-it-all Ward Cleaver (of Leave It to Beaver fame). Claire and Jack’s life together is so dull and regimented that even sex is performed according to schedule—every Sunday night, come rain or shine. The lack of romance in her life begins eating away at Claire. She craves passion and desire. Enter “Todd the Bod,” an old flame. Claire is torn. Does she want an exciting love life badly enough to leave Jack? Should she fight or flee? In Gardiner’s emotionally realistic picture of a stale relationship, it’s easy for women to identify with Claire, from her physical midlife slump to her emotional one. And the resigned wife, the oblivious husband, and the enticing blast from the past are such well-crafted characters readers will swear they know them. Fans of such books as Cassandra King’s The Sunday Wife (2002) and Susan Wiggs’ The Ocean Between Us (2004) will enjoy Gardiner’s. --Shelley Mosley