Here is a book like none you will have read before ... It both documents and legitimises the desires and sexuality of African women, beyond every conceivable stereotype ... No topic is off limits as these conversations reveal and explore similarities and differences ... The women speak openly and invariably for the first time about their experiences of sex and relationships ... They share emotion-filled stories with honesty, addressing everyday personal dramas within the wider context in which self-worth and confidence are affected by racism and patriarchy ... With sensitivity, this book has facilitated astonishing breaking of silences ... Sekyiamah has delivered an extraordinarily dynamic work.
A counter-narrative ... [An] eye-opening collection ... Anecdotes abound but overall analysis is somewhat lacking. The stories raise all manner of questions relating to gender, politics and socio-economics that go unexamined. The interviewees, meanwhile, are disproportionately middle-class and queer. One is left wondering where the poorer, rural village woman fits into all of this. Nonetheless, Sekyiamah does an excellent job of reminding us of the complexity of sex and relationships ... One hopes that the heart-breaking stories about sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy will provide succour to readers who, like the interviewees, are in need of healing and self-discovery.
Dazzling ... Interweaving autobiographical details with her subjects’ complex, category-defying personal histories, Sekyiamah charts the 'journey towards sexual freedom and agency' through self-discovery, defiance of cultural norms in favor of authenticity, and reckoning with the traumatic legacies of rape, abuse, and genital mutilation. Though many of the interviewees acknowledge their unhappiness, the overall tone is hopeful, resilient, and accepting. Marked by the diversity of experiences shared, the wealth of intimate details, and the total lack of sensationalism, this is an astonishing report on the quest for sexual liberation.
[A] sweeping study ... The book uses memoirlike interludes of the author’s romantic history to frame these 32 stories. Throughout, the women present intimate, confessional material, and the text shows a diverse spectrum of life experiences ... With Sekyiamah as our guide, we fly around the world experiencing an appropriately varied selection of intimate stories, expanding our hearts and minds ... The author allows each woman to speak for herself, an approach that captures the immediacy of the experiences but occasionally makes the book feel like a collection of testimonies. Nonetheless, Sekyiamah highlights a dynamic chorus of voices that often go unheard ... An ambitious, moving account of women controlling their bodies and their destinies.
