Promises Lovers Make When It Gets Late

Book excerpt: 'In scary films, people say "I'll be right back," and they're usually wrong. In beds, people say "I'll always love you," or "I'll always be faithful to you", and they're usually wrong too.' A characteristically intriguing and insightful look at love, promises and fidelity by the author of Why do women write more letters than they post? Women very rarely make promises at the start of a love affair. In fact it is men who say 'We'll always be friends' or who swear eternal love. Why is this? Starting with the motif of the promise, by way of the Bronteuml;s, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Daphne du Maurier, Nick Leeson and Elizabeth I, psychoanalyst Darian Leader explores the essential questions: Why do people open their mouths when surprised? Why should men often have a compulsion to count things? Why do so many lovers adopt silly baby talk? And why are self-help manuals always less complicated than video-recorder instructions?