London - Joanna Trollope has revealed she thinks trust is more important in a relationship than monogamy once a woman is too old to have children.
The best-selling author, 70, admitted she has an “unorthodox” relationship with the partner she has been with for more than a decade because of their 23-year age gap and the fact that they don’t live together.
Asked if fidelity is important to her, twice-married Miss Trollope replied: “I think at my age, loyalty and trust are more important than monogamy, but I think while women are fertile, sexual loyalty is crucial. But as time goes on you shrug a bit.”
Miss Trollope has made more than £15-million turning her tales of tangled middle-class relationships into novels that have seen her dubbed Queen of the Aga Saga.
The Oxford-educated daughter of a rector and distant relative of Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope has been with musician Jason Kouchak, 47, for around 12 of the 15 years she has lived alone.
She has two daughters from her first marriage to City banker David Potter, which lasted 18 years. Her second marriage, to TV dramatist Ian Curteis, ended after 15 years.
Of her decision not to set up home with Mr Kouchak, she said: ‘Independence is crucially important to me but it doesn’t extend to wanting to control other people. I just want to be free myself.
“He (Kouchak) has never been married. I think it’s the right degree of liberty for both of us and I’d never consider living with somebody again. I don’t want anyone to say to me, ‘Why can’t I see you this weekend? Why are you going to be with the grandchildren?’.”
The novelist told West Country Life magazine she thought both of her husbands had been made uneasy by her success. But she said very few of the successful women she spoke to in researching her new book Balancing Act – about the new breed of wealthy working women – were with men who couldn’t handle their success. - Daily Mail