Sally Howard, a self-confessed child of the Western Sexual Revolution, sets out on a 'sexploration' through modern India, travelling by train, plane and auto-rickshaw.

From the heat of anti-rape protest on the streets of New Delhi to the cool hills of Shimla, playground of the Raj; from a Gujurati retirement home for gay men and eunuchs to a busy sex clinic in Chennai; from patriarchs to matriarchs; GIGs (Good Indian Girls), BIGs (Bad Indian Girls) and the flesh-pots of Bombay, she – accompanied by feisty Delhi girl Dimple – lifts the bed sheets on India’s sexual revolution.

And it’s a revolution that’s full of fascinating surprises and contrasts; for India – the land that gave us that exuberant guide to sexual pleasure, the Kama Sutra – is also the land where women remain cloistered in purdah while teenage girls check out porn online; where families bow down to a conjoined phallus and vagina, the ‘Shivaling’, while couples fear to hold hands in public; and where the loveless arranged marriage is still the norm.

Colourful, compelling, confounding, The Kama Sutra Diaries reveal what India has to tell us about modern-day love, sex and sexuality.

REVIEWS:

"Journalist Howard describes her travels in India and her exploration of the sexual and social revolution in that country. She uncovers subjects from the little-known (at least in the West), such as ancient erotic Indian statues, to the surprisingly little-understood, such as the nation’s soaring consumption of explicit Web material. Her discussion of the challenging status of women is the most disturbing part of the text.”—The Columbus Dispatch

“Fascinating! I had no idea of the level of contradictions and cultural idiosyncrasies in India. There are lessons to be learned from observing this ancient culture’s journey into modern times. “—Tori Eldridge, Empowered Living Radio, Authors on the Air

“This is a travel book with a difference…a book of surprising encounters. As an Indian who has been out of the country for a long time, I found this book an eye-opener. Some of these things I did know about, but others were a complete surprise. I found the change in attitudes gave me reason for optimism, in spite of the backlash. Women are starting to fight back and stand up for their rights, as is the gay community. There are anti-“Eve-teasing” (a euphemism for sexual harassment and groping) flash mobs on the Delhi metro. It will take a long time for attitudes to undergo a significant shift but the cracks are showing.“—Women on the Road

'The first book to focus exclusively on sexual experience. Her journey begins in the deep past, in the erotic Kama Sutra temples of Madhya Pradesh, and continues through hill station of Shimla as a seat of sexual licence during the Raj, before taking a look at GIGs (good Indian girls) and BIGs (bad Indian girls) in Delhi, as well as a retirement home for eunuchs in Gujarat, cemetery sex in Varanasi, sex clinics in Chennai, and bar girls worse in Mumbai. There is much eye-watering, mind-boggling stuff.' —Giles Foden in Conde Nast Traveller

'Absolutely riveting... I could not put it down. Everything you wanted to know about sex...in India, but never dared ask. Sally Howard lifts the veil on one of the worlds most complex countries.' —Mark Shand, author of Travels on my Elephant and winner of the Travel Writer of the Year award

'An intelligent and informative look at changing sexual attitudes and behaviour in India. It includes tackling the increasingly hostile attitudes towards women, from the notorious gang-rape on a bus of a 23-year-old woman student Delhi last December that made the world notice, to an "epidemic" of domestic murders that have inspired feminist flash-mobs and demonstrations.' —Sunday Herald

'Absolutely brilliant - every page is a new revelation.' —Nahal, BBC Asian Network

'Counter-cultural and defying expectation, it lays open India’s marketing of sex and shines its light on the mistreatment of women, sexual practices, addictions and presumptions. An intriguing insight into a country which gave us the fabled Kama Sutra but where couples still fear to hold hands in public.' —Scotsman

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kontakt:

Piotr Wawrzeńczyk

piotr@literatura.com.pl