Leila Slimani

Gives voice to young Moroccan women who are grappling with a conservative Arab culture that at once condemns and commodifies sex

Sex and Lies

Marion R

These days, were confronted with our own conflicting identities: sex is associated with the Other, the decadent West, while Moroccan and Muslim identity stands for virtue and modesty. But were forgetting everything. Were forgetting that its we Arabs, we Muslims, who shocked the West with our erotic texts in the fifteenth century. We invented the realm of the erotic. Were suffering from collective amnesia.

this was a really insightful and validating book. i’ve seen a lot of reviews suggesting that Slimani only included essays that support her ideologies, but i think she gave a platform to the critiques that are often used out of context, villainised, or completely ignored. mediterranean culture and its obsession with female purity (across all major religions of the regions) remains a black cloud above a lot of us; the pressure, the concern and the shame that comes with it.

 i think this was a really great book and forgive me for the poorly formulated review.

annalyse! 

this was a really insightful and validating book. i’ve seen a lot of reviews suggesting that Slimani only included essays that support her ideologies, but i think she gave a platform to the critiques that are often used out of context, villainised, or completely ignored. mediterranean culture and its obsession with female purity (across all major religions of the regions) remains a black cloud above a lot of us; the pressure, the concern and the shame that comes with it.

 i think this was a really great book and forgive me for the poorly formulated review.

Wasn’t what I expected, a bunch of stories on women’s sexuality In Morocco with no real analysis. 

Easy read, repetitive 

Wasn’t what I expected, a bunch of stories on women’s sexuality In Morocco with no real analysis. 

Sampurna Saha 

This was really eye-opening and tough to read occasionally .... but at times it felt slightly repetitive and I took too much time to read it than I probably should have so ended up being slightly confusing sometimes. Still did learn quite a lot from it .

"Jaw-dropping . . . Inspiring . . . A haunting and beautifully composed book . . . It blew my mind." --Lisa Taddeo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Three Women A fearless exposé of the secrets and lies of women's intimate lives, by the bestselling author of The Perfect Nanny, Adèle, and In the Country of Others "All those in positions of authority--politicians, parents, teachers--maintain the same line: 'Do what you like, but do it in private.' " Leila Slimani was in her native Morocco promoting her novel Adèle, about a woman addicted to sex, when she began meeting women who confided the dark secrets of their sexual lives. In Morocco, adultery, abortion, homosexuality, prostitution, and sex outside of marriage are all punishable by law, and women have only two choices: They can be wives or virgins. Sex and Lies combines vivid, often harrowing testimonies with Slimani's passionate and intelligent commentary to make a galvanizing case for a sexual revolution in the Arab world.

True Stories of Women's Intimate Lives in the Arab World

Olivera Mitić

4.5/5🌟

ja kad konačno naletim na odličan istraživačko-novinarski non-fiction:

Audrey

Arihant Verma

Taylor Conacher

Lemonae

Leïla Slimani

The first work of non-fiction in English from the prize-winning and internationally bestselling author of Lullaby and Adèle In these essays, Leila Slimani gives voice to young Moroccan women who are grappling with a conservative Arab culture that at once condemns and commodifies sex. In a country where the law punishes and outlaws all forms of sex outside marriage, as well as homosexuality and prostitution, women have only two options for their sexual identities: virgin or wife. Sex and Lies is an essential confrontation with Morocco's intimate demons and a vibrant appeal for the universal freedom to be, to love and to desire.

Sex and Lies

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