| Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A brothel for women? Journalist
Nelson, the author of several popular nonfiction books (Straight, No Chaser;
etc.), offers a ribald take on the battle between the sexes and one heck of
an entrepreneurial scheme, in her wickedly funny first novel. Lydia Beaucoup
and Acey Allen are 40ish best friends living in Oakland who find themselves
going in circles when it comes to dating and finding a satisfying
relationship. After a gab session in which the two women fantasize about the
ideal man, Lydia comes up with a startling solution: she proposes opening a
brothel in which sexy black male prostitutes attend to the sexual needs of
black women. Acey thinks she's joking, but Lydia is dead serious, and she
asks for a sabbatical from her job as an ad copywriter to put the crazy plan
into action. Nevada is the chosen location, and after getting a prostitution
license, Lydia uses her own dates to begin recruiting prospective employees,
starting with a sexy UPS guy named Odell, who becomes the de facto manager.
Bizarrely, funding comes from the wife of a rich right-wing zealot who made
a fortune selling arms, and the spa opens to rave reviews from the first
wave of clients. Trouble surfaces when a conservative preacher on a family
values kick gets wind of the project from a tabloid editor and tries to shut
down the spa. Nelson has fun with her mischievous conceit, and there are
more than a few hilarious scenes. The comedy is underpinned by her solid,
convincing depiction of the friendship between Acey and Lydia, and an
engaging, breezy style. The novel has its flaws-it's cluttered with
secondary characters, and the conceit is stretched perilously thin at
times-but it's a great read anyway, and a standout in the genre of
African-American popular fiction.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Nelson, author of Volunteer
Slavery (1993) and Straight, No Chaser (1997), presents a debut
novel that is both funny and sensual. When two friends come up with a plan
to provide a refuge for black women to have their sexual needs met, an idea
is born that is so old it's new. Lydia and Acey decide to create a brothel
for women that will provide the total spa experience plus sexual healing.
They pick the state that allows the world's oldest profession to flourish
and set up shop in Reno, Nevada. For the opening weekend, a select group of
women are invited to take advantage of the full-service facility. These
women have such a pleasant experience that from word of mouth the spa is
booked for months in advance. Not surprisingly, it becomes even more comical
when unscrupulous media, church leaders, outraged citizens, and chauvinistic
men begin criticizing and boycotting the spa. Nelson tackles the political,
cultural, and sensual facets of female sexuality in an upbeat and funny
tale. Lillian Lewis Copyright © American Library Association. All
rights reserved
Publishers Weekly, May 12, 2003
Wickedly funny.... more than a
few hilarious scenes.... a great read ... a standout in the genre of
African-American popular fiction.
Review
"Journalist Nelson, the author
of several popular nonfiction books (Straight, No Chaser, etc.), offers a
ribald take on the battle between the sexes and one heck of an
entrepreneurial scheme in her wickedly funny first novel. Lydia Beaucoup and
Acey Allen are 40ish best friends living in Oakland who find themselves
going in circles when it comes to dating and finding a satisfying
relationship. After a gab session in which the two women fantasize about the
ideal man, Lydia comes up with a startling solution: she proposes opening a
brothel in which sexy black male prostitutes attend to the sexual needs of
black women. Acey thinks she's joking, but Lydia is dead serious, and she
asks for a sabbatical from her job as an ad copywriter to put the crazy plan
into action....Trouble surfaces when a conservative preacher on a family
values kick gets wind of the project from a tabloid editor and tries to shut
down the spa. Nelson has fun with her mischievous conceit, and there are
more than a few hilarious scenes. The comedy is underpinned by her solid,
convincing depiction of the friendship between Acey and Lydia, and an
engaging, breezy style. The novel has its flaws...but it's a great read
anyway, and a standout in the genre of African-American popular fiction."
From Publishers Weekly, 5/12/03, p. 44
Book Description
Jill Nelson, bestselling author of Volunteer
Slavery and Straight, No Chaser, has written a steamy and
uproarious debut novel that tells the story of Lydia and Acey, two childhood
friends who've grown up to become successful mid career professionals. But
their career success is matched by their romantic and sexual frustrations.
One night, dissecting their dissatisfactions over a bottle of wine, they
concoct a plan: why not develop a business that discreetly supplies handsome
black men willing and able to serve the sexual needs of black women?
Thus is born the idea for Sexual Healing -- a
"full--service" spa aimed at meeting all of black women's intimate desires.
Launching the enterprise is a struggle, but the conflict is just beginning:
even as their delighted customer base grows, they face a firestorm of
attacks from hostile media, grandstanding church leaders and other outraged
parties.
From the most dignified black church in Oakland
to sex-positive small-town Nevada, from the racks of Loehmann's to the
skyscraping executive suites of San -Francisco, Sexual Healing is a
page-turning comedy of outraged manners, a blistering satire on American
gender and race relations, and a sexually frank exploration of what women
really want. Jill Nelson unleashes the storytelling abandon that captivated
readers of Volunteer Slavery and gives it full rein in what's sure to be one
of the hottest books of 2003.
Praise for Jill Nelson:
"Nelson's voice is boisterous, honest and
hilarious." -- Terry McMillan
"Scalding, candid, mordantly funny." --
Boston Globe
"Tumultuous, funny and ultimately wrenching. . .
. And no target is off limits." -- Detroit Free Press
Jill Nelson is the author of the
bestselling Volunteer Slavery (Noble, 1993), which won an American
Book Award, and Straight, No Chaser (Putnam, 1997), and the editor of
the anthology Police Brutality (Norton, 1999). She is a regular
contributor to the Village Voice and MSNBC.com, among other
publications. She teaches at the City College of New York and lives in
Manhattan.
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