How to Sleep at Night: A Novel

The question at the heart of Elizabeth Harris’s debut novel How to Sleep at Night is this: why do we love the people we love? Is it because their worldview and politics align with our own? Is it chemical? Or do we love them because of who they make us believe we can be?

Ethan and Gabe have an enviable life, a lovely daughter, a beautiful home, and the kind of marriage others envy. That is, until Ethan decides to run for Congress as a Republican. His views have always been more conservative than Gabe’s, but now their marriage will be tested. How much can Gabe take of Ethan’s Republican rhetoric before it seems their entire marriage is at stake?

Gabe’s good friend from college, Nicole, feels disconnected from her queer self. She’s been married to a man for years and has two wonderful children, but wonders if she has an identity outside their marriage. When she reconnects with her ex Kate, a journalist and Ethan’s sister, the darkness she’s been living in becomes illuminated.

Morality and ethics are all over this novel. Is Kate’s attraction to Nicole–a married woman–a hangover from their prior relationship or something real? Should Gabe compromise his values to support Ethan? When politicians are corrupt, who pays the price?

Timely and well crafted, How to Sleep at Night is a thought-provoking read.