A wildly entertaining, authentic, and profound guide to navigating freedom and commitment, in a society intent on pinning us down.

FREE LOVE: Adventures in Marriage and Polyamory
by Michelle Tea
HarperOne, Fall 2026
(via Frances Goldin Literary)

Polyamory is having a moment. Whether you love it or hate it, the explosion of non-monogamy into the mainstream suggests a widespread frustration and stuck-ness within traditional relationship structures, perhaps especially among women and femmes, whose sexual freedom has long been contained and policed. Why do we have to choose between adventure and security? Why can’t we try, at least, to have them both?

Long before its current it-girl moment, polyamory was foundational to many radical subcultures, who saw in it not only the chance for sexual freedom, but a path towards dismantling patriarchal oppression and the zero-sum game of capitalism – a path towards personal, spiritual, and collective growth, care, and empowerment. Polyamory was also foundational to the life of beloved writer and queer icon Michelle Tea, from the clandestine, ill-fated throuples of her late teens, to the punk lesbian underground of 90s San Francisco, through marriage and divorce, Tinder flings and enduring friendships, heartbreak and motherhood.

In FREE LOVE, she will share these juicy, hilarious, and moving stories with her characteristic wit and charm, while delving into the radical, forgotten history of openness, and interviewing and researching widely, to guide readers through the thorny choices we make in our own relationships – poly or no. A modern-day The Ethical Slut meets Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love, it marries the storytelling of Maggie Smith and Samantha Irby with the practical wisdom and heartwarming appeal of writers like Glennon Doyle, Emily Nagoski, and Vanessa Marin.

Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen widely acclaimed books memoir, fiction, and cultural criticism, and the recipient of awards from PEN/America, the Guggenheim, Lambda Literary, and the Rona Jaffe Foundation. Her books have been translated into French, Japanese, Slovenian, German, Italian, and Swedish.