The Erotica genre has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent times thanks to the Fifty Shades trilogy by EL James; now we know many of you disliked the premise of the books, loathed the characters and cringed at the syntax but the fact remains that James has allowed readers everywhere to indulge in a little bit of naughtiness without feeling dirty anymore. It is also a genre that suffers from people’s misconceptions, erotica is not romance, don’t read an erotic novel expecting to experience bodice ripping, chest heaving gorgeousness, erotica is far more visceral in its depiction of sex, it often focuses on the prohibited, the dangerous and the taboo. You’re not going to meet your D’arcy between the pages of these books.
Finding good erotic novels is not easy though, many of them suffer from their subject matter with the sex becoming more important than the story and the whole book turning into something you’d expect to find on a newspaper’s problem page. Fortunately for us there are still plenty of really good erotic novels out there and here we have 5 erotic novels you’ll want to be seen with.
Vox – Nicholson Baker
Hailed as “The mad scientist of smut” by the NYT in 2011 Nicholson Baker’s most popular erotic novel is Vox, a story centred around one event: a phone sex conversation. Of course when you are limited to language alone the words and how they are used become even more important to the storyline and in this scenario where two strangers begin talking on a telephone chatline (this was a ‘thing’ before the internet went mad and gave us social media) they make a connection taking their conversation into a private one on one. What follows is a frank and funny dialogue between two people who confess their fantasies and talk dirty to one another without the hold up of seeing one another’s reactions. Precise, intricate and detailed this is one for the readers who like everything and I mean everything described in its entirety.
I Am a Woman – Ann Banon
Written in the 1950s and the second book in the The Beebo Brinker Chronicles I am Woman joins Laura Landon a year after leaving college as she flees her home and her disappointed father in the middle of the night to escape the heartache of losing her sorority sister (who she adores) Beth who has decided to marry. Finding a job and a flat share in Greenwich Village Laura is flung into the Lesbian Bohemia that flourishes there and finds herself attracted to her flatmate Marcie who has a very strange relationship with her ex husband who just so happens to be gay. A wonderfully torrid novel of love, lust and manipulation I am Woman is worth reading just for Beebo Brinker, “who carries off a barroom seduction scene that is surely a classic”.
Dirty – Megan Hart
A rich, dominant business man and an unassuming, submissive woman… Sound familiar? Don’t worry, this is vulgar, intelligent prose and a heart-wrenching romance all wrapped up in one; it’s Fifty Shades ratcheted up a notch or seven and it’s gloriously filthy. Accountant Elle prefers to engage in anonymous sex and one night stands, she doesn’t want a relationship until Dan, but Dan isn’t playing ball and that only makes Elle want him more. If you enjoyed Fifty Shades but prefer a more ‘grown up’ writing style then this is the book for you.
The Virgins – Pamela Erens
Set in 1979 in Auburn Academy, an exclusive boarding school in New Hampshire The Virgins is a narrated voyeuristic novel told from the viewpoint of fellow classmate Bruce Bennett-Jones as he reminisces about his observations of an overtly demonstrative relationship that developed between fellow students Aviva Rossner, the Jewish daughter of a wealthy physician, and Seung Jung, a Korean American with demanding parents and a penchant for drugs. Although told as if factual it soon becomes clear that these are the fantasies of a once bitter, now repentant man whose determination to become part of and then the orchestrator of Aviva and Seung’s relationship this is a bold and brave (based on the author’s own youthful experiences) take on the awakening sexualities of teenagers thrown together in the environment of a Boarding school.
Delta of Venus – Anais Nin
Exploring the art of human sexuality in a way that only Nin can this book of short stories is filled to the brim with love scenes and sexual liaisons of every variety. Written with a warmth peculiar to Nin, beautiful yet undeniably explicit, challenging, shocking, and extremely erotic Delta of Venus is sensual without being overly crude, and yet it will make you blush. The sex is loud, proud and very often not legal, there are moments that will leave you wondering what on Earth made you pick this book up and others that will leave you needing a cold shower but one thing this book will not do is leave you unmoved.
We say you won’t mind being seen reading these erotic novels but I challenge you to ever be able to read these in a public place without turning bright red and worrying that someone might be reading over your shoulder just as you get to a particularly juicy passage.
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A worthy addition to this list would be The Juliette Society (and its recent sequel, The Janus Chamber) by Sasha Grey. Literate and intelligent, with a tense plot of intrigue … but also eye-wateringly filthy.