-->
Amorous Woman by Donna George Storey
Iro Books, 2012
ISBN 978-1-9056-1917-7
I was musing about erotica recently and
realized that all my own novels, as well as most of my favorite work
by other authors, could be viewed as stories about journeys. I'm not
talking about travel in space. I am referring to an intellectual and
emotional exploration, a progression in which characters begin in one
psychological place and end up somewhere quite different, changed,
more perceptive, perhaps more accepting of themselves, with an
improved understanding of their needs and desires. Of course, many
mainstream novels can be seen in this light. In erotica, however, the
characters' sexual activities and discoveries are the agents of
change.
Donna George Storey's wonderful first
novel AMOROUS WOMAN is an exceptional example. In the case of Lydia,
Ms. Storey's heroine, there is a physical voyage as well, to the
fascinating and frustrating culture of contemporary Japan. However,
Lydia's real journey is internal, as she strives to balance her
sometimes reckless hunger for new sensations with her need for human
connection.
Lydia flies to Kyoto eager to taste all
the cultural and sensual delicacies that Japan has to offer. Fluent
in Japanese, she finds the country more accessible than it would be
to most, but in her relationships with its people, and especially its
men, she is repeatedly disappointed. She becomes an English teacher
bedding college boys, a dutiful wife to a handsome but overworked
salaryman, mistress and companion to a powerful tycoon, an exclusive
female escort, a sex performer. The delicate perversity of Japanese
sexuality continually attracts her. She aches to be included, but no
matter how correct her grammar and how outrageous her sexual
behavior, ultimately, she remains the gaijin, the
stranger.
Ms. Storey takes us back to meet Lydia
in her teens, when she first discovers the power of her sexual
imagination. From her worldly older cousin she learns the difference
between "good" and "bad" girls; it is abundantly
clear which category she belongs to. Her imaginary lover encourages
her to be audacious:
=====================
"You have become a bad girl since
you started listening to your cousin. But of course I'm very glad
that you're taking her advice. The world would be a happier place
with more women like her."
"I'm not sure I have the nerve to
do what she said," I confessed.
"Of course you do. I want you to
do it and you don't want to disappoint me. Why don't you pick up
that brush and press it against your virgin hole?"
With a quivering hand, I reached for
the brush and held the rounded end of the handle against my secret
lips.
...
"Very good. I knew you could do
it. Now move it in and out slowly. I know you want to open yourself
for your lover. And for me."
This is indeed exactly what I wanted to
do. Somehow he always knew just what to make me do, as if he could
see desires inside me I didn't myself understand.
======================
Lydia brings this openness to
experience, this willingness to take risks, with her to Japan, where
it carries her into adventures and even dangers. What she really
craves, though, is to belong.
======================
"What brings you to Japan,
Lydia-san?" Dr. Shinohara asked.
...
The honest answer was that I came
because I craved adventure, a life of surprises, a non-stop feast of
exotic sensual pleasure, anything but a job in investment banking
like most of my college friends. But at this point it was probably
better to give the doctor my safe, standard line.
"I came to Kyoto to learn
traditional Japanese dance."
"I see. Do you enjoy wearing
kimono?"
Should I tell him the truth now -- that
it feels unspeakably sexy to wear one and I loved being bound by the
column of cloth hobbling my legs and the obi's snug embrace of my
breasts? It probably meant I was a sexual masochist, but I didn't
really want to admit it. More exciting was the promise of
transformation through that bondage, the chance to shed my foreign
awkwardness for the Japanese dancer's gliding grace.
"Yes, I do like wearing kimono,
but it's a challenge, too. I have to move my body in a different way,
so maybe I can understand, just a little, what it's like to be
Japanese. I think it is the Japanese way, in dance and in life, to
transform ..." I pulled my English-Japanese dictionary from my
book bag and quickly leafed through it for the right word.
"Constriction," Dr. Matsumoto
read out for me.
"To transform constriction into
art."
"Lydia-san
understands Japan very well," Dr. Shinohara said to his friend.
...
I bowed my head, my cheeks burning with
pleasure. I'd not only been seen, but embraced. How could he have
known that was my secret fantasy - the fantasy of all true Kyoto
gaijin - that our wandering spirits had
reconnected us with us with our lost host?
======================
Lydia's journey takes years. As she
delves deeper into Japanese culture as well as her own sexual
complexities, she feels more rather than less alien. She begins to
take greater risks, flaunting her extravagant sexuality because she
can, rather than because she really wants to. Finally, confronted
with a man who desires and understands her, whom she probably could
love if he weren't married, she has the courage to stop and examine
her behavior and desires, and to choose a new path.
I enjoyed Amorous Woman more than any
erotic novel I've read in a long while. Ms. Storey writes with
insight and humor. She vividly conveys the sensual experiences of
living in a new land.
============================================
Each day of my first year in Kyoto
brought some wonderful new discovery - a mysterious fox shrine tucked
away in a winding alley, the beguiling sweetness of bean jam wrapped
in soft rice pastry, a lovely boy bowing nervously as I ushered him
into my apartment. Even in the recollection there is magic. The whole
year seems to fold in on itself like a dancer's fan, leaving one
perfect day in high summer.
=============================================
As someone who has made her own voyages
of discovery into strange cultures, I strongly identified with Lydia
and her lust for new experience, as well as her desire to be a part
of the wonders around her.
However, Ms. Storey understands more
than just foreign cultures. She is an expert at expressing the
complexities of sexual relationships. Amorous Woman includes both
real encounters and some deliciously extreme fantasies that Lydia
entertains. I found the real-world scenarios more exciting. Ms.
Storey manages to show us Lydia's doubts, fears and confusion while
still keeping the sexual temperature turned up to the maximum.
Amorous Woman is definitely arousing
but it is much more than a light-hearted bedroom romp through Japan.
It is a believable and moving tale of one woman's journey of sexual
self-discovery. If you don't mind some serious content mixed with
your sex, I recommend it highly.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let me know your thoughts! (And if you're having trouble commenting, try enabling third-party cookies in your browser...)