When Melanie Farrell visits the neurologist she is told her multiple sclerosis is progressing. She isn’t surprised by the diagnosis, but what does shock her is the related prognosis. It seems, based on a new study, that she only has six orgasms left. Six! Fortyish and single, Mel must decide how best to spend, save or at least not waste those precious orgasms.

Mel’s plans to make the most of her sex life proves easier said than done when other realities of living with MS demand even more of her attention. Should she max out her credit card on an experimental procedure in Costa Rica? How can she work to financially support herself and get the care she needs when she can hardly leave the house? Where are her friends when she needs them? Her choices become even more confusing when one day she meets a man who loves butterflies and is good with his hands. But is romance what she’s really looking for right now? Or is she looking for something even more?

Funny, honest, heartbreaking and hopeful, A One-Handed Novel offers a fresh take on independence and disability, ambition and love, and the communities that help us cope when our bodies and our desires are ever-changing.

Kim Clark lives on Vancouver Island. Disease and desire, mothering and the mundane propel her ongoing journey between poetry and prose. Kim's work can be found in Body Breakdowns (Anvil Press), the Malahat Review, e-zines and other publications in Canada and the US. She was a 2010 winner in the scratch Poetry and Fiction Contests and was short-listed in the Malahat Review 2010 Novella Contest. Kim holds a BA in Creative Writing from Vancouver Island University and has edited for Artistry and Portal. Her first book was Attemptations (Caitlin, 2011).

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“[…] A comic novel about MS—who would have thought it? But it’s also about sex, about coming to terms with one’s bodily limitations, and about friendship, money, hope, and community…"

Pickle Me This

"Clark’s magic is that her story keeps up a comedic tone while showing us the vulnerability that is part of being human. ... If humour can boost your immune system, A One-Handed Novel will keep you healthy for a long time."

The Ormsby Review