In a society where we discuss sex openly, the most embarrassing secret is to admit that you can’t make “it” happen. I’m Coming is a hilarious and provocative novel about why women fake it.

Ever since her sexual debut, Julie has faked orgasms. One day she decides she’s had enough and locks herself in the bedroom with food, baby oil, and Mr. Rabbit — a vibrator with a thirty-day orgasm guarantee. Lying in bed she reviews her sexual history: boyfriends, casual lovers, and, not least, the man she married. Meanwhile, her husband and their three children stomp around outside her bedroom, along with the sexually well-functioning Ukrainian au pair, all of them wondering why Julie isn’t coming.

I’m Coming is a delectable comedy about society’s expectations of women and women’s expectations of themselves. Aarø writes deftly about sexuality, identity, and the media’s portrayal of what constitutes “normal.”

Selma Lønning Aarø is a newspaper columnist for Dagbladet and Klassekampen in Norway. Her first novel, The Final Story, won the Cappelen Prize for Best Debut Novel in 1995, and is the imaginative tale of a young woman’s erotic adventures. She has since written six novels for adults and two books for children. Her works have been translated into Danish, Dutch, Polish, and Turkish.

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