Esther Perel
Mating In Captivity

Can we continue to desire what we already have?
Does good intimacy ever make for good sex?
Is sexual excitement politically incorrect?

In Mating in Captivity, psychotherapist Esther Perel looks at the paradox of modern love. Through case studies and engaging discussion, she explores how our cultural penchant for equality, togetherness and total candour is at odds with erotic desire. Which makes sex in long-term relationships a contradictory and messy business. And suggests how you can reconcile secure love with the pursuit of passion, and challenge notions of correctness. Wise, witty, and as revelatory as it is straightforward, Mating in Captivity is a sensational book that could change the way you love and live.

‘Her ideas are like the chorus of a really good pop song – instantly familiar because they resonate deeply’ Observer

‘Articulates a poignant and unacknowledged modern crisis for the first time: that many happily married couples stop wanting to sleep with each other’ Evening Standard

‘Enormous fun’ Sunday Times

‘Reads like a cross between the works of Jacques Lacan and French Women Don’t Get Fat’ The New Yorker

‘Articulate, warm and extraordinary empathetic … Perel is only too aware of the problems of our nuclear families … But she refuses to allow this to be an excuse’ Daily Mail