I’m a believer in a well researched approach to storytelling. If a character experiences something critical to the narrative, the author should, at the very least, understand the mechanics of said activity. However, being disappointingly unfamiliar with the modern landscape of sex toys, the following paragraph in Love and Happiness required an authentic understanding that only hands-on research would supply. To be honest, I have never anticipated manhandling a juddering jackhammer at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday morning, but such are the labours of a writer committed to the Art of Literature.

Harriet picks up her wand, twists the base, then twists to the second level. Oh, I see. An unexpected increase in intensity commands Harriet’s complete attention. She twists to a third level, grips the shaft in the palm of her hand. This now makes a lot more sense. She twists again, and as a numbing sensation creeps up her forearm, Harriet begins forming new plans for the remainder of the evening. She twists again, begins to fret, then twists to the maximum level. As Harriet struggles to retain control of the juddering jackhammer, her mind becomes entirely consumed in a whirlwind of absorbing ramifications and shocked disbelief.

Love and Happiness G.I. James

While the imagery of Harriet being physically overwhelmed by her new wand provides a moment of levity, the reality within the pages of Love and Happiness is far more poignant.

For Harriet, masturbation isn’t an act of hedonism, but an anaesthetic employed against mental distress. When the weight of Lucas’s chaotic life or the haunting echoes of her childhood become too loud to bear, she turns to the physical to silence her nightmares – a sensory overload designed to drown out the unmanageable realities of a life spent in the margins. In Harriet’s world, pleasure is a byproduct of her desperate need for silence.

Experience Harriet’s full journey in search of Love and Happiness.

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