Would you guess that the book we wrote titled, Unpregnant, is actually a love story? No, not one you’d find in the romance section, filled with roses and candlelight (though there are some roses) – a platonic love story.
Unpregnant
You might be thinking, “That’s a terrible title for a romance” – OK, true, now that you mention it – and, “Isn’t Unpregnant about abortion?” Well, it is the story of ex-best friends on a thousand-mile journey across the American Southwest to obtain a legal abortion, while avoiding shotguns, ferrets, aliens and worst of all, a crazed ex-boyfriend. Well, yes, technically you’re right. But what it’s really about is finding that one person who sees you for who you are and will stand by you despite your imperfections. And, oh, isn’t trying to sleep with you.
A best friend.
So often in the stories and media we consume, there’s a huge emphasis on the ‘falling in love” part of love. The moment where eyes lock, where someone stumbles adorably into someone else, where at the end of a series of hilariously cute misunderstandings, two people finally kiss in the rain at the train station. And those stories are great. And they can make you feel all gooey inside. But sometimes with all the emphasis of finding romantic love, the importance of friendship gets a bit lost. One of our hopes in writing Unpregnant was to craft a story that gave the reader all the warm gooey feelings you get when you read a traditional romance, but for friendship. Because finding a best friend should be considered just as important and be just as celebrated.
Why?
Friendships go the distance. Sometimes that means literally. They’ll drag your butt to the airport during holiday traffic, or give you a lift home when you definitely shouldn’t be driving, or travel with you across the country to get a legal abortion. Try doing that with that hottie rain-kisser who never texted back.
Friendships go the distance time-wise too. Friendships are often way longer than romantic relationships. Especially high school ones. How many people are still close to their high school besties years later, but, thankfully, never spoke to their prom dates again? A friend becomes someone who knows the history of you. And you know the history of them. And in a world that’s constantly changing, a person who knew you when you were super into One Direction fanfic but now knows you as a kick-ass lawyer with fancy shoes (who sometimes still might visit Ao3), that’s someone to treasure.
And because friends know your history, they know you’re not perfect. But they don’t care. Because they aren’t perfect either. And sometimes you’ll hurt each other. And sometimes you’ll make mistakes, but the important thing is being there for each other. Because life can stomp all over you. And friends are there to pick you up and dust you off. While we can’t endorse some of our characters’ actions in real life (stealing cars, tasering people …), with good friends you know that, if necessary, they would totally be willing to break into your evil ex’s car, jam the ignition with junk food, and leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere. Theoretically.
Seriously. Please don’t do that. But if you’re looking for an epic friendship story, read Unpregnant.
Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan is out now, priced £7.99. Find out more here: https://www.chickenhousebooks.com/books/unpregnant/