Lily, a librarian with a bookmobile, arrives in the small California town of Nolan to help start a book club. Across the ocean in an Alsatian chateau, an ancient Book of Cures is stolen and surreptitiously travels to a California coast library, then on to Nolan. Suspicion swirls around the three lonely club members. Unaware of the theft, they secretly pursue their curiosity about classical erotica, while sipping a strange tea infused with herbs grown in a gypsy garden. Mysterious events collide. A crime wave and a murder shake up the town, as the women are entangled deeper and deeper into a baffling puzzle of danger and death.
Lily, a librarian with a bookmobile, arrives in the small California town of Nolan to help start a book club. Across the ocean in an Alsatian chateau, an ancient Book of Cures is stolen and surreptitiously travels to a California coast library, then on to Nolan. Suspicion swirls around the three lonely club members. Unaware of the theft, they secretly pursue their curiosity about classical erotica, while sipping a strange tea infused with herbs grown in a gypsy garden. Mysterious events collide. A crime wave and a murder shake up the town, as the women are entangled deeper and deeper into a baffling puzzle of danger and death.
Lily, a librarian with a bookmobile, arrives in the small California town of Nolan to help start a book club. Across the ocean in an Alsatian chateau, the ancient Book of Cures is stolen and surreptitiously travels to a California coast library, then on to Nolan. Suspicion swirls around the three lonely club members. Unaware of the theft, they secretly pursue their curiosity about classical erotica while sipping a strange tea infused with herbs grown in a gypsy garden. Mysterious events collide in a whirlwind of intrigue. A crime wave and a murder shake up the town, and the women fall deeper and deeper into a baffling puzzle of danger and death.
Estelle sets up a book group in order to increase custom to her struggling small town cafe, what follows is more scandalous than she could have ever imagined ... As the first book club meeting flounders, Estelle suggests a spot of erotica to spice up the members lives --with trepidation the decision is accepted. Inspired by their sizzling reads, this group of shy suburban readers shake off their inhibitions and discover a new side to themselves with some tantalising results.
Every woman who joined the book club expected to expand their literary horizons. But when they stop reading the classics and start exploring the steamy side of fiction, they discover just how much fun reading can be… When the book club makes their first erotic selection The Sexual Education of Lady Emma Whitehead, marketing executive Georgia Malone is surprised to find herself identifying with the main character. Like Emma, Georgia is a widow who has never truly experienced the joys of sex. But when she meets the spokesman for her newest campaign, Georgia’s long-buried libido is awakened. Hockey star Woody Hanrahan is charming and cocky—the sort of man Georgia usually avoids. But while her mind is saying stay away, Georgia’s body is telling her to give in every time Woody comes near. Now as her book club explores the tantalizing extremes of fiction, Georgia is experiencing first hand, and for the first time, the real pleasures of the flesh, and fulfilling the desires that—chapter by chapter—are getting delightfully dirty. Woody is hers to command in a hundred deliciously wicked ways, but when it comes to writing her own happy ending, this dirty girl doesn’t just need his body—she wants his heart.
The more they read, the more they learn. And the more they learn, the more the women in the Dirty Girls Book Club want to experience it for themselves… Confirmed city girl Kim Chang loves the book club’s foray into erotic fiction, but she’s not sold on their latest choice of cowboy erotica. An art student whose future lies back in Hong Kong, Kim has never thought of dusty chaps and Stetsons as sexy. But she’s in for a surprise when the club takes a trip to the rodeo. It’s so raw and physical, and those strong, masculine men atop bucking broncs arouse in her some serious lust. At the end of the night, she finds herself going home with the most smoldering cowboy in the bunch and having the hottest night of her life. Ty Ronan is from a different world than Kim, but their wild fling is too good to stop. As Ty unleashes Kim’s inner dirty girl, she realizes that the rough-and-tumble man might be more than a roll in the hay. This cowboy’s allure goes deeper than she imagined, but can these two opposites make their passionate ride last a lifetime?
Four women bond over naughty bestsellers and the shocking letters they inherited from the original members of the Dirty Book Club. As they open up, they learn that friendship might just be the key to rewriting their own stories: all they needed was to find each other first.--
*A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, FINANCIAL TIMES AND DAILY TELEGRAPH* *SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* *BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK* *SHORTLISTED IN THE 2020 PARLIAMENTARY BOOK AWARDS* 'All the history you need to understand why you're so furious, angry and still hopeful about being a woman now' Caitlin Moran Well-behaved women don't make history: difficult women do. Feminism's success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Helen Lewis argues that too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It's time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. In this book, you'll meet the working-class suffragettes who advocated bombings and arson; the princess who discovered why so many women were having bad sex; the 'striker in a sari' who terrified Margaret Thatcher; and the lesbian politician who outraged the country. Taking the story up to the present with the twenty-first-century campaign for abortion services, Helen Lewis reveals the unvarnished - and unfinished - history of women's rights. Drawing on archival research and interviews, Difficult Women is a funny, fearless and sometimes shocking narrative history, which shows why the feminist movement has succeeded - and what it should do next. The battle is difficult, and we must be difficult too. 'This is the antidote to saccharine you-go-girl fluff. Effortlessly erudite and funny' Caroline Criado-Perez 'Compulsive, rigorous, unforgettable, hilarious and devastating' Hadley Freeman
Energized by changes in careers and romances, the ladies of Novel Women book club transition from a tumultuous summer into autumn. But they soon discover that this new stage of life doesn't come with instructions. Sandwiched between their parents and children, they rely on each other to navigate this confusing period. As they face these new challenges, the six women buoy one other up with an abundance of wisdom, resilience, strength, and ---yes, ---love. After all, book club is so much more than just reading. Bri - book club founder, finds returning to work after a twenty-year hiatus proves to be even more difficult than she feared. Madeline - senses something isn't quite right with her husband's business associate and friend. Ava- visits her mother in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and is attracted to a neighbor's son. Hanna -her controlling mother moves in with her when her sister is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Charlotte-grapples with her boyfriend's ex-wife's looming presence and hostile children. Staci -longs for her elusive Vermont farmer despite brutal attacks by his jealous longtime friend.
As the women in the Dirty Girls Book Club open each new selection of erotica, they also open up their minds to sexual adventure… Lily Nyland married sexy bad boy Dax Xavier because he made her dreams come true—in bed and out. But after a decade of marriage, her helicopter bush pilot husband spends more time in the remote wilderness than heating things up in her bedroom. The best sex she’s enjoyed recently comes from the Dirty Girls Book Club’s erotic selections. Still, when the club chooses Bound by Desire, Lily’s skeptical. As a family practice doctor and a fiercely independent woman, the theme doesn’t exactly resonate with her. But then Dax, home for the Christmas holiday, startles her by spicing up their sex life with naughty tricks that make her wonder if he snuck a peek at her book. Even more shocking, Lily finds herself turned on by their erotic experimentation. Kinky sex may be enough to rekindle the passion in their marriage, but can it restore the deeper bonds of love and trust?
