I admit I approached Donna Storey's Amorous Woman with trepidation. For one, there's a woman in her underwear on the cover. And then the back cover describes the book as "the erotic secrets of one woman's sexual awakening and her subsequent passions in Japan". Um. Not one to read on the commute then (luckily I work at home).
The book begins with Lydia - the Amorous Woman herself - living in San Francisco and teaching Japanese culture to American businessmen. Following her return to America from Japan, Lydia vowed never to have sex again "with anyone, man or woman" for the rest of her life. Only a few pages in, I got the impression that would be a promise she'd find difficult to keep.
When she goes out for a drink with two of her students, not only does she find herself attracted to them (inevitably), she also learns that she hasn't been able to hide her true self as well as she thought. They have guessed she has secrets and ask her to tell them. So she does. And the reader learns it all at the same time, of course.
If you ignore the fact that, rather than a couple of hours, it would have taken Lydia days to relate her story, the book is compelling and beautifully written. Despite the fact that Lydia behaves fairly appallingly throughout, she is so open and honest about her wants, needs and weaknesses that I couldn't help but like her.
There isn't much of a plot - basically Lydia goes to Japan and has
varied sex with varied people - but there is an emotional core to the
book, so it doesn't seem gratuitous. But it is erotic fiction, so it is
fairly relentless. It's interesting to read about a woman exploring all
aspects of her sexuality (almost) without apology.
The Japanese setting is interesting too - I really felt like I'd got an insight into the country's culture - but I've no idea why there's a Japanese woman on the cover. Lydia is American and there are hardly any Japanese women in the novel (plenty of Japanese men though).
Since it's an erotic novel, you probably want to know whether it is indeed "erotic" (that word's never been the same to me since Waynetta Slob). It is. (Ha! Coy enough for you?)
Rating: 4/5
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