• Courtesy Of Blackstone Publishing
• Lisa Kusel

Sex — who's having it and, more importantly, who isn't — is at the heart of The Widow on Dwyer Court, the latest novel from Burlington author Lisa Kusel. Set in a suburban neighborhood in the fictional Vermont town of Rayburne, the book immediately sets up the rules of this wealthy, rural enclave: The residents are friendly, if a bit superficial, and no respectable woman would be caught dead at the grocery store without lipstick on. But like most pristinely manicured corners of America, Rayburne is full of secrets.

Kusel is the author of three other books, including Rash, a memoir about a family move to Bali that almost destroyed her marriage, and Hat Trick, a novel exploring a complicated love triangle. The theme of relationship turbulence is at work again in The Widow on Dwyer Court, which follows writer Kate Burke as she navigates an unconventional arrangement with her husband, Matt, and her new neighbor, Annie Meyers.

On the surface, Kate appears to be a typical stay-at-home mother to Finley, loving wife to Matt and dog mom to Munch. But she's leading a double life as a secret erotica author, with a flourishing career under the pen name Daphne Moore. Kate's books are full of sexy adventures that follow Macon Strong, a cheesemaker who never seems to run out of conquests.

Kate, however, actually hates sex. At one point, she even googles "sex-repulsion," something she's grappled with her whole life. After years of trying to make it work with her handsome husband, she finally decides to open her marriage. Every time Matt comes home from a work trip, he regales her with stories about the hot women he takes to bed — and Kate takes notes, so she can work the encounters into her books.

Their arrangement seems to make sense until a young widow, Annie, moves in down the street. Kate begins to suspect that something's going on between Matt and Annie — Matt's daily runs are getting a little too long, and the two have some sort of connection they won't acknowledge. At the same time, Kate strikes up a true friendship with Annie and finds herself opening up in ways she hasn't been able to with her other Rayburne friends. But that doesn't stop Kate from analyzing every move Annie and Matt make. Kusel deftly builds suspense about how much Kate thinks she knows versus what she might be spinning in her head.

Told from both Kate's and Annie's points of view, the book draws nuanced psychological portraits of the two women. While the plot is intriguing enough, most savvy readers will be able to figure out what Annie is up to pretty quickly. It's the character work that brings the novel to a deeper place, with complicated female perspectives that go beyond the suburban-wife trope. Kate's insecurities are on full display, and her inquisitive, writerly eye allows her to look deeply into herself and others.

"It isn't as if I don't want to be a 'normal' wife," Kate muses at one point, "one who can't wait to make love to her husband the moment he gets home from a long business trip. But I'm not that person, and I'm pretty sure I'll never be that person."

• Courtesy
• The Widow on Dwyer Court by Lisa Kusel, Blackstone Publishing, 306 pages. $17.99.

Annie's outlook is as intriguing as she is, and the story comes alive when readers get glimpses into her world. She's at once relatable and a little sociopathic; in an early scene, she knocks a wine bottle off a grocery belt just to bathe in the chaos of the crash. It's clear that something is up with her from the start, but the fun comes from trying to figure out just what that is and how far she's willing to go.

At the same time, Annie's not quite what you'd picture as the femme fatale, despite the fact that her previous husband died under mysterious circumstances. Instead of slinky black dresses and a long cigarette in one hand, Annie is a hard-core crunchy vegan who doesn't shave her legs and hates single-use plastic. She also has allergies that are undefinable but omnipresent — an astute metaphor for her character.

The Widow on Dwyer Court weaves in excerpts of Kate's erotica novel in progress, which spices up the book. For someone who doesn't want to have sex, Kate is pretty obsessed with it. But this dichotomy within her character is perhaps one downfall of the plot: Her choices don't always make sense, particularly when the final twist arrives. It can, at times, be difficult to understand why she's hell-bent on controlling her husband's sexual affairs when she has no interest in fulfilling his desires.

Still, it's the push-pull between desire and obligation in The Widow on Dwyer Court that raises interesting questions about our expectations of marriage. What ultimately matters more: comfort and care or sexual fulfillment? And if you're willing to hold on to one or the other at all costs, who becomes the true villain of the story?

There are no easy answers here, but the questions will certainly keep readers turning the page.

From The Widow on Dwyer Court

I want to keep typing, keep the flow going, but Matt and Finley should be home any minute. If not for them, I would spend twenty hours a day writing stories. There is nothing I enjoy more than spinning gold out of Matt's straw.

I open the curtains to let the real world back in again and stare out at the backyard, dappled under the slender light of an early spring afternoon in Vermont. Two muddied soccer balls sit dormant in front of the net. A scatter of Munch's chew toys and bones dot the lawn as if they rained down from the sky.

I smile at the beautiful chaos of it all.

When I hear Munch barking, I go out front where I find him running around the lawn, his leash still attached. "Munch, why are you—?"

Panic rises up into my chest. Where are Matt and Finley? I rush to the sidewalk and peer down the street, where I see the two of them standing with a woman and a child at the corner of Monroe and Forest. I squint against the glare of the setting sun, trying to recognize them. I don't. Just as I am about to walk toward them, Matt leans in closer to the woman. He appears to whisper something in her ear, after which the woman and child walk away down Forest Road. Matt takes Finley's hand and they turn toward home.