Sex and Lies

‘Striking.‘ ELLE France
‘Brave.‘ iNews
‘Powerful.‘ TLS
‘Urgent.‘ Evening Standard
‘Original.‘ Cosmopolitan

In these essays, Leïla Slimani gives voice to young Moroccan women who are grappling with a conservative Arab culture that at once condemns and commodifies sex. In a country where the law punishes and outlaws all forms of sex outside marriage, as well as homosexuality and prostitution, women have only two options for their sexual identities: virgin or wife. Sex and Lies is an essential confrontation with Morocco’s intimate demons and a vibrant appeal for the universal freedom to be, to love and to desire.

‘Leïla Slimani has a knack for breaking taboos. . . Sex and Lies is well executed: the novelist paints vivid portraits of her interviewees.’ The Times

‘Slimani trusts in her outrage, in the force of her own voice, and the voices of the women she listens to.’ Guardian