The Eternal Struggle

Book excerpt: Updated 3.5.21: The narrative in Stockholm in the early 70s. I've chosen the categories literary, contemporary & historical fiction. The story presents a psychological portrait of gender struggle between the two main characters, James and Maud. The storytelling is character-driven, and the plot is minor, though there are a couple of surprises. For years James behaved like a playboy, shying away from a meaningful relationship until he began to feel like "a sex machine" and lonely. The time to turn a new page in his life had arrived. He had lost faith in meeting the right woman. James then gets to meet a woman of his dreams - she's attractive and intellectually stimulating. His old seductive tricks become a threat, but James is disciplined. On the first date, a heated discussion erupts, which threatens his dream. James and Maud are argumentative and egoistic and wage a battle of sexual politics against the other. Whether feminist Maud will stick to her gun or succumb to her affections remains a question. Former lady's man James has the choice of compromising to achieve his desire, by letting go of misogynistic inclinations - or walking away in despair.