The Unmade Bed

In one of the most talked about books of the year, provocative cultural commentator Stephen Marche examines the state of male-female relations in the 21st century, with commentary from his wife, Toronto Life editor-in-chief Sarah Fulford.

On a warm spring morning in New York City, Stephen Marche, then a new father and tenure-track professor, got the call: his wife had been offered her dream job . . . in Toronto. Their mutual decision to move home, prioritizing her career over his, shed new light on the gender roles in their marriage. It also provoked a surprising and divided response from the world around them.

In The Unmade Bed, Marche explores the phenomena that define our modern conversations on gender, from mansplaining to parenting to the division of domestic labour. As his view is only one half of the story, Marche’s wife and Toronto Life editor-in-chief Sarah Fulford provides footnote commentary throughout. The result is a uniquely balanced and acutely personal exploration into the moments in everyday life where men and women meet. Going beyond who does the laundry, Marche provocatively argues that we are no longer engaged in a war of the sexes, but rather stuck together in a labyrinth of contradictions. And these contradictions are keeping women from power and confounding male identity.

The Unmade Bed has ignited an international conversation about the complex and shifting landscape of gender relations.