Sexual Healing - Hardcover

Nelson, Jill

3.67

201 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0972456201 ISBN 13: 9780972456203

Publisher: Agate, 2003

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Jill Nelson, bestselling author of Volunteer Slavery and Straight, No Chaser, has written a steamy and uproarious debut novel that tells the story of Lydia and Acey, two childhood friends who've grown up to become successful midcareer professionals. But their career success is matched by their romantic and sexual frustrations. One night, dissecting their dissatisfactions over a bottle of wine, they concoct a plan: why not develop a business that discreetly supplies handsome black men willing and able to serve the sexual needs of black women?

Thus is born the idea for Sexual Healing-a "full--service" spa aimed at meeting all of black women's intimate desires. Launching the enterprise is a struggle, but the conflict is just beginning: even as their delighted customer base grows, they face a firestorm of attacks from hostile media, grandstanding church leaders and other outraged parties.

From the most dignified black church in Oakland to sex-positive small-town Nevada, from the racks of Loehmann's to the skyscraping executive suites of San -Francisco, Sexual Healing is a page-turning comedy of outraged manners, a blistering satire on American gender and race relations, and a sexually frank exploration of what women really want. Jill Nelson unleashes the storytelling abandon that captivated readers of Volunteer Slavery and gives it full rein in what's sure to be one of the hottest books of 2003.

Praise for Jill Nelson:

"Nelson's voice is boisterous, honest and hilarious."-Terry McMillan

"Scalding, candid, mordantly funny."-Boston Globe

"Tumultuous, funny and ultimately wrenching. . . . And no target is off limits."-Detroit Free Press

Jill Nelson is the author of the bestselling Volunteer Slavery (Noble, 1993), which won an American Book Award, and Straight, No Chaser (Putnam, 1997), and the editor of the anthology Police Brutality (Norton, 1999). She is a regular contributor to the Village Voice and MSNBC.com, among other publications. She teaches at the City College of New York and lives in Manhattan.

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About the Author:

Jill Nelson is also the author of the bestselling Volunteer Slavery, which won an American Book Award, and Straight, No Chaser, and has been a journalist for more than twenty-five years.

From Publishers Weekly:

A brothel for women? Journalist Nelson, the author of several popular nonfiction books (Straight, No Chaser; etc.), offers a ribald take on the battle between the sexes and one heck of an entrepreneurial scheme, in her wickedly funny first novel. Lydia Beaucoup and Acey Allen are 40ish best friends living in Oakland who find themselves going in circles when it comes to dating and finding a satisfying relationship. After a gab session in which the two women fantasize about the ideal man, Lydia comes up with a startling solution: she proposes opening a brothel in which sexy black male prostitutes attend to the sexual needs of black women. Acey thinks she's joking, but Lydia is dead serious, and she asks for a sabbatical from her job as an ad copywriter to put the crazy plan into action. Nevada is the chosen location, and after getting a prostitution license, Lydia uses her own dates to begin recruiting prospective employees, starting with a sexy UPS guy named Odell, who becomes the de facto manager. Bizarrely, funding comes from the wife of a rich right-wing zealot who made a fortune selling arms, and the spa opens to rave reviews from the first wave of clients. Trouble surfaces when a conservative preacher on a family values kick gets wind of the project from a tabloid editor and tries to shut down the spa. Nelson has fun with her mischievous conceit, and there are more than a few hilarious scenes. The comedy is underpinned by her solid, convincing depiction of the friendship between Acey and Lydia, and an engaging, breezy style. The novel has its flaws-it's cluttered with secondary characters, and the conceit is stretched perilously thin at times-but it's a great read anyway, and a standout in the genre of African-American popular fiction.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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