From the unrepentant, adulterous husband to the frustrated grandmother desperate to reignite some passion in her marriage, the diaries offer a truly fascinating glimpse into our private lives and longings.
Not alone: A grandmother, a cheating family man and a 36-year-old divorcee reveal what they are really thinking about all day long
The 52-year-old grandmother from Kent, who yearns for a passionate relationship with her husband — and wishes her daughter’s partner would put on some clothes . . .
FRIDAY
9:23am: Morning diary. Just bumped into my youngest daughter’s partner ‘Adonis’ on the landing, wearing nothing but a hand towel and a smile. I swear that boy deliberately flaunts himself to me.
11.45am: From the kitchen I can
see my husband of three decades, Sam, in the garden. If only he tended to my needs as lovingly as he does the hydrangeas.
1.15pm: Family have descended. Nine rounds of sandwiches later, my children, their partners and babies are all beginning to disperse.
5.48pm: Roast in the oven. Been thinking about how to reassert myself lately. After so many years of being a shadow, pillow, buffer for my family, I don’t know who I am. I am certainly not the girl in my wedding photo, nor am I an elderly grandma. I want to wear brightly coloured hippy dresses and have sex in fields with Sam like we used to.
10.29pm: Everyone in bed. Maybe Sam is right: perhaps the platonic, respectful friendship we have is OK and I should stop fretting about what we are missing and be grateful.
1.36am: Still awake, thinking about how we used to be. We would grab any opportunity to make love . . .
SATURDAY
1pm: Sam and I had a huge row in the shopping centre. We never argue, but somehow it all blew up when I tried to persuade him to buy a shirt in a different style and colour to the ones he normally wears.
1.30pm: Cried all the way home. Told Sam how unhappy I am about the lack of passion. He got angry and said he’s never been demonstrative, so why do I suddenly want hearts and flowers?
I don’t know what to do. All those memories. I just want a bit of it back, some excitement.
2.38pm: Hanging out laundry. No wonder Sam doesn’t fancy me much these days. When did I start wearing my mother’s knickers?
The new Bridget Jones: These candid diaries include a 52-year-old who is perhaps a little too close to her daughter's partner
SUNDAY
11.17am: Adonis wandered into the kitchen wearing jeans and no shirt, kissed my hair and said: ‘Love you.’
He is texting me all the time, too — just jokey banter. I don’t tell Sam because I don’t want to cause trouble. Much as I’m fond of him, it’s a bit over the top.
MONDAY
10.35am: Getting ready for a party with old schoolfriends. We pretend to be philosophical about the passage of time, but for a special occasion like this we all diet, wax, shop and vie for who least looks their age.
11.56am: All dressed up. Adonis tells me I ‘look the business’.
12.54pm: Sam just asked what I’m going to wear to the do. I’m sitting here in full regalia.
TUESDAY
4.12pm: Spent the afternoon with my best mate, who lost an old friend last night. Makes my little squabbles and irritations seem pathetic and selfish.
8.17pm: Writing this diary has made me face up to feelings I have been burying for years.
I want Sam to know what he has to do without me spelling it out for him: I want him to take me in his arms and tell me he can’t survive without me, and make love to me as if I am the most precious thing in his life.
Everything we need to get it back is still there; I just need to work out how to reach it.
Some of this is my fault. When the children came along I became totally focused on them. It’s not that I don’t think about sex any more, I just seem to have lost that part of me.
WEDNESDAY
Holiday romance: Couples have more sex during a one week break than two months at home
4.30pm: Sam emailed me while I was out, to say he has booked a weekend away for the two of us! I am delighted — maybe he listened more than I thought.
Oh, and Adonis has texted me to tell me what a beautiful woman I am. There is definitely something weird about that boy.
8.57pm: Writing this diary has been an enlightening experience. My husband is deserving of so much more than I have given him for many years, and I promise this will change.
The cheating family man, 41, from London.
WEDNESDAY
8.04am: On my way to work. Wondering if the women on the train see me as The Fat Middle-Aged Man or The Older Man With Experience. Reality says former; fantasy says latter.
10.30am: Sales meeting. After months out of work, my self-esteem is back on top. Home dynamics have changed for the better, too.
12.10pm: Text from Janie asking if I’d like to see her tomorrow. Sex with my wife Jacqueline has decreased since the children, but junk sex — the kind of sex I have with Janie and others — has increased. Struggle to feel guilty.
THURSDAY
11.54am: Rachael in Outsourcing wearing a new outfit and her boobs look huge. Have to stop myself staring.
12.30pm: Took up Janie’s invitation. Sex at lunchtime always feels naughty, but even more so when you really should be working. Paranoid that everyone in the office knows.
8pm: Back home. Everything considered, I feel happy in my life. My wife and I could live without each other, but neither of us without the children.
FRIDAY
5.10pm: A co-worker said you can’t love your partner if you’re having sex with someone else. Does that mean every time you think about sex with someone else that you don’t love your partner? And what about emotions?
A year ago, a friend said she believed we were having an emotional affair. Our mutual friend thought that was worse than things getting physical.
9.15pm: My plan is to be married for ever. Jac is the only one I have ever considered spending my life with. I can’t say I’ll stop sleeping with other women, though. That would be breaking a 26-year habit.
'Took up Janie's invitation. Sex at lunchtime always feels naughty, but even more so when you really should be working. Paranoid that everyone in the office knows'
SATURDAY
10.05am: My taste in women has aged with me. There is something very sexy about women in their 30s and 40s.
A while ago, I had sex with a woman of 62 and was amazed by the great shape her body was in. Yet when I was 20, I thought sex stopped at 40.
7.27pm: Been to football. In good books by bringing home dinner and flowers.
10.15pm: Looking at saucy snaps of a former girlfriend and me on a beach that I keep under lock and key. Is old home-made porn grounds for divorce?
SUNDAY
7.08am: Sitting with the children watching cartoons. I wouldn’t swap this for anything.
7.15am: The children bring huge joy, but take away all free time and any chance of bedroom spontaneity. That’s possibly one reason why NSA (no strings attached) sex appeals.
I’m not suggesting my children are responsible for anything I do sexually, but the restrictions they bring certainly emphasise forbidden fruit.
MONDAY
11.04pm: Jac and I come home slightly tipsy after supper with friends. With the children asleep upstairs, we make love on the sofa. We giggle and freeze at every creak of a floorboard. Thank goodness for stair gates.
TUESDAY
10am: Call from my best friend. There isn’t much he doesn’t know. Obviously, I wouldn’t tell him I’d like to sleep with his wife, though.
5.40pm: On my way home. A girl in shiny leggings presents me with a flyer for a lap dancing venue. Lap dancing doesn’t do it for me. I find the mock conversation and fakeness annoying.
11.17pm: I have nothing left to confess. I think about sex constantly, I take risks too often, but I love my wife and children. I’m pretty confident that in doing so, I represent the vast majority.
The 36-year-old divorcee from London struggling to cope with a keen new boyfriend after 12 years of marriage.
SUNDAY
6.30am: Woke early this morning with that familiar ache: the disbelief that my husband of more than a decade is not here, but is with someone else. I want it all back — even though I know it wasn’t working.
Got all glammed up for a night out. My husband looked up and asked me what I was going to wear
10am: Boyfriend has called twice, full of enthusiasm about us. We’ve been together a year, but it’s on and off.
10.15am: Just told my housemate I’m not sure about Boyfriend. Her response: ‘You could do a lot worse.’ I know I could. It’s wonderful to be loved. But I don’t love him.
12.29pm: I miss my husband, but the reality is our arguments are over, our fingers are bare, our bed’s empty, our stuff is in storage and our friendship is dangling by a thread.
Neither of us has found anyone else who makes them laugh as much.
11pm: Dreams don’t help. All I can remember from last night’s is telling someone: ‘Don’t sacrifice your marriage, not for anything.’ I woke up next to Boyfriend and felt miserable.
MONDAY
7.35am: Seeing Boyfriend later on. I keep telling him we might not last, but he doesn’t listen.
10am: Trying to work, but every day I hope my husband is going to call and say he wants me back. I miss looking at him, hugging him. I really miss him physically. Which is amazing considering how much I pushed him away when we were together.
11am: Boyfriend called to confirm tonight. I know I should just enjoy his company and the sex. The only problem is that I’m not ready for it.
12.43pm: Only 18 months ago I had my own home in the countryside, a husband and a decent job. Now, I’m in a cramped house-share in London.
9pm: Boyfriend arrives. I need to get hammered and drag him out for a dinner of peanuts and beer.
TUESDAY
8.04am: Boyfriend just left and I feel sick. Because of the peanuts–and-beer dinner, but also because I have been awash in a pool of gushy, soppy pillow talk for the past 12 hours, with only a brief pause for sex.
He knows I hate it.
10.30am: Feel guilty, so have suggested he comes round again tonight. This is the never-ending cycle. If I am not sure he’s right for me, I should face up to it ending, but I just can’t stand being on my own.
WEDNESDAY
2.29pm: Boyfriend just left. I was feeling reluctant to have any intimacy because my head was all over the place (guilt, guilt). But I realised the thing I like about this bubble of a relation-ship is I can just switch off my thoughts and worries and let my body take over.
Play around: 14 per cent of men over 60 have cheated on their current partner
Once his mushy talking stops, it’s just physical between us, very animal and utterly blissful.
8.59pm: Husband just rang up for a chat. That hasn’t happened for a long time. I feel... challenged. I think that’s the best way to describe it.
10.26pm: It’s really amazing how contact from him slings me up in the air and then slams me into the ground.
10.27pm: Confidence: lost.
THURSDAY
10.10am: Thinking through last night’s call. A couple of things my husband said remind me he can be a bully. And childish. I’ve grown out of his nonsense. I just have to wait for my emotions to catch up, I suppose.
2pm: Emails today from Boyfriend, plotting fun things to do. And my husband has sent two emails. Maybe he’s missing me.
SATURDAY
10.56am: I really feel better about my husband since the phone call. Must see if it lasts. We might go out for an evening this weekend.
Perhaps my stupid hope won’t pop up this time: that he’ll drop to his knees, declare great changes and undying love, and put my wedding ring back on. It took balls to get out of that marriage and admit defeat.
SUNDAY
5:14pm: Went to a meet-the-author event at my local bookshop.
Lots of jaded singles there laughing at themselves. Quite interesting hearing the rubbish some people have gone through.
Boyfriend is a pretty good catch, judging by some of their stories. Or at least a guy who will see me through this part of life.
7pm: My husband cancelled our date tonight. Quite glad. I’m still confused, but think things are getting clearer. ( dailymail.co.uk )
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