By
AMELIA MAY KINGSTON
ISBN 1-4116-7695-5
Retail Price UK £11.53
USA $21.93
researchers, activists, reviewers and journalists can Email me here for free pdf copy
BOOK DESCRIPTION
This book is not pornography. It is a challenging, erotic, pseudo-autobiograpy
detailing the changing perspectives of a disabled, middle-aged female
psychotherapist as she interacts with the world of alternative sexuality.
It is black comedy and tragedy, innocence and debauchery, weakness and
strength, courage and cynicism. It is a story of love, disillusion,
outrageous freedoms and the persistence of hope.
Nominated Erotic Book of the Year 2006
(international competition honouring erotic artists and those who promote sexual pleasure and freedom.)
REVIEW by Richard Cope This book kept me up till 2 a.m. I shall have to have “words” with the author.... Although billed as Fictionalised auto-biography, the book is an extremely self-revelatory and blisteringly honest depiction of real life, the ambiguities and pain of early sexual experiences where the highly intelligent and largely self-taught child is confronted, in less than optimal conditions, with the realities of sexuality by her fellow pupil and the neighbourhood disreputable child enticer. Like Amelia, the heroine was brought up in the school of “hard knocks” and has had some major traumatic experiences during the course of her eventful life. The full horror of these are hinted at in some of the episodes in the book. Like Amelia, she has had MS from an early age. Despite this and the “Angela’s Ashes” background, you get a picture of a strong, intelligent, brave and explorative woman who yearns for the full and dedicated love and attention of a Man. The book covers this quest and the “ups and downs” of her various relationships – including one with an alcoholic con-artist - and her search, which was extensive and far-reaching, for a “live-in” Male submissive / carer. The book covers –
although not in full explicit detail– her foray into the field
of Alternative Sexuality. There is also a very good factual appendix on the topic of Bondage and Sado-Masochism ( BDSM ). I would highly recommend this book to anybody interested in sexuality, relations between the sexes and to those keen to celebrate the variety, energy, and inexhaustibility of the life force, so magnificently embodied in the heroine and in Amelia herself. |
From
researching light in the Arctic to building palaces on the equator; from
night-club singer to landlady providing bed, breakfast and evening meals
for lorry drivers: Amelia May Kingston’s life has never been dull.
In spite of having Multiple Sclerosis since her teens, she has raised
a family of three and, on her old Yorkshire doctor’s advice, said
“No!" to "nowt”.
Amelia, now a qualified psychologist, has a self-esteem website, which
is free and can be found at http://www.youareunique.co.uk.
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS
Some time ago I decided that my contribution to the action to persuade
the Government to rethink their proposed Bill criminalising "the
possession of extreme pornographic images" would be to write and
publish a semi-autobiographical novel specifically to show how alternative
sexualities and in particular,
BDSM*, can be part of a rounded life practised by intelligent, caring,
creative people.
There is an old Chinese proverb that before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in his shoes, so that when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes. But, seriously, there is so much wrong with the way we respond to all forms of sexual deviance that I decided to do just that, change shoes and try to understand exactly what was going on by living it.
Together with many leading psychologists in the field of psychosexual development, I have become convinced that there is much in the best practice of alternative sexuality that is physically, mentally, socially and emotionally, extremely therapeutic. I have come to agree that "True BDSM is consensual, strengthening, and sustaining; true degradation is not. Therein lies the difference, and it is an all-important difference. "
Publisher's comments
This book is written by a very ordinary person, who, like all ordinary
people, is a witch, a saint, a harlot, a warrior, a poet, an artist and
a lost child.
Is it true? In a way ... Is it really about her? Now that would be telling
... but her playmates may recognise themselves in some of the composite
characters she has created from the experiences they shared, in fantasy
or in reality.
To be safe, she adapts the standard disclaimer:
"The characters in this book are all figments of their own imaginations,
or of mine"
It may be hot but it was not written simply to tittilate. It was written to explain. It was done at her own expense in terms both of financial investment and personal exposure, because she felt it was something someone had to do. Her honesty is refreshing and can help people to accept themselves and liberate them from fear and depression by her example.
