He was dismayed how readily he took to lying. He'd always thought of it as a decisive abandonment of the truth. Instead, he realised, it was simply a matter of one word slipping into the place of another.'
Dr Quinn Davidson and his wife Marianna have endured years of unsuccessful IVF and several miscarriages, and Quinn can't face another painful attempt to conceive. Marianna is desperate to be a mother and their marriage is feeling the strain. At a small-town practice a few hours from their home, Quinn meets Rachel, the daughter of one of his patients. Drawn to each other, it's not long before they find themselves in a passionate affair and Quinn realises he must choose between the two women. Then Marianna announces a surprise natural conception, news that will change the course of all their lives.
Set in the lush Australian subtropics, this taut emotional drama poses questions about moral courage and accountability, and asks whether love means always telling the truth.
Sarah Armstrong's first novel, Salt Rain, was shortlisted for several awards including the Miles Franklin. She was a radio journalist at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where she won a Walkley Award. She now lives in northern New South Wales with her partner, writer Alan Close, and their young daughter.
His Other House
His Other House
Author: Sarah Armstrong
ISBN: 9781743532188
RRP: $29.99
Question: What inspired you to write His Other House?
Sarah Armstrong: The idea came to me a few years back when I read a newspaper article about a man who had two families at the same time. I think he was from Wollongong, near Sydney, and he'd had two families for many years (and was found out!). It set me thinking about why men (because all such cases I've heard of involve men) would do this and how they justify to themselves and what happens when they are found out. When I mentioned to people what I was writing, an astonishing number of people would tell me that they knew such a scenario in real life.
Question: Can you talk about why it was important for you to write a book about unsuccessful IVF attempts?
Sarah Armstrong: I didn't set out to write about IVF and the longing for a child, but it winkled its way into the story, as issues close to my heart tend to. My husband, Alan and I went through IVF. At 39, after we'd been trying to conceive for some time, we learnt that IVF would be the only way for us to have a child. I found IVF a profound and unsettling and wonderfully miraculous experience. I wanted to show how intense some women's longing for a child can be, and how that longing can really consume you. It did me. We went through two IVF cycles and got pregnant three times and had two miscarriages. Our now five-year old daughter Amelia was our very last embryo, and Al had told me it would be his last shot at it. He simply couldn't endure the emotional toll of IVF.
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