This book is one of the many Alive Walker novels that I have been deeply moved by. Once again, it’s a novel that sheds light on what it means to be a woman, how the stereotypes associated with our sexuality shape us, where they come from, and how our methods of dealing with it define us.

It talks about the kind of relationships we have when we own our sexuality. It talks about how we pass these things on to our children, wittingly and unwittingly. It talks about the indoctrination of entire communities and cultures, and the battles we face when we want to break free of that whilst still wanting to be accepted and loved by society. Whether this is in fact even possible.

At once both painful and powerful, this book is gripping. It’s a book I want to gift every female in my life with. And it’s raises issues I want to school every male in my life about.