BECOMING VENUS
The feminist Fifty Shades of Grey, Becoming Venus is one woman’s journey of sexual self-discovery through Melbourne’s underground sex clubs. A debut novel from viral sensation Esmé Louise James (Kinky History creator with 3.5m+ followers).
Years after PhD student and literature tutor Rose thought she’d left Adrian in the past, an impulsive message pulls her back into his orbit. It reignites a spark long since buried beneath the weight of her carefully constructed life. Five years ago, their fleeting night together left her in a whirlwind of desire that continues to haunt her fantasies. Now, only a few weeks after ending her long-term relationship with financier Sebastian, Rose finds herself reaching out again.
Loosely inspired by the erotic classic Fanny Hill and set against the vibrant backdrop of Melbourne, Rose becomes drawn into a seductive underground of erotic clubs and play, leading her into new realms of sexual exploration and empowerment. It’s here she begins to redefine and understand her identity and boundaries. Exhilarated but terrified by this new world opening up to her, Rose begins to understand that what she wants is far more complex than she has ever allowed herself to believe.
Forced to confront the scars of her past, Rose redefines her understanding of intimacy, trust and what it means to truly know yourself and your desires.
KINKY HISTORY
.jpg)
Contrary to popular belief, our predecessors had all sorts of obscene hobbies long before Christian Grey hit the scene. In this enlightening romp, learn about the first instances of homosexuality on record from the ancient world and the diverse history of nonbinary gender; encounter a thousand years’ worth of hilarious and horrifying contraceptive methods; consider the positive and negative effects of the widespread availability of pornography in the digital age—and how our relationship to it changed during the pandemic; take a sneaky riffle through centuries of bedside drawers; and discover the dirty little secrets of luminaries such as Julius Caesar, James Joyce, Albert Einstein, and Virginia Woolf.
Kinky History draws on Esmé Louise James’s phenomenally successful series on TikTok, which explores scandalous stories in the ancient world and the saucy secrets of famous figures. Teaming up with her statistician mother, Dr Susan James, the pair have surveyed the nation for all of your intimate secrets – and the results are in.
By placing the past in conversation with the present, we’ll explore five ‘kinks’ that challenge our thinking about sex. How has the idea of sin shaped our sex lives? Why is masturbation so taboo? Where are our hidden queer histories? How do kinks and fetishes play with the idea of sex? And why does pornography have so much power over us?
Kinky History aims to blow open our conversation about sexuality and gender. Strap yourself in (or on?) – let’s build a more liberated, sex-positive future.