Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Longlist 2026 | Ask Me How It Works: Love in an Open Marriage - Deepa Paul

What if you dared to want more – from love, from life, from yourself? Deepa Paul rises from her boyfriend’s bed in the early hours of dawn. She gets dressed, slips away with a kiss and cycles home, where she is welcomed lovingly by her husband. There isn’t a glimmer of shame, deception or guilt, only the honesty and compassion needed to make this kind of life possible – even if it wasn’t always this easy.

Whose idea was it? What are the rules? Are you ever jealous? Deepa answers these questions openly and tenderly, as she seeks truths that many of us long to discover, but few dare to ask. Is there more to life and love than what I’ve always known? Do I deserve it? Is it worth it?Intimate and bold, this is one woman’s story of becoming, of desire and of identity, and of finding the answers she believed she deserved – one question at a time.