Sex and Lies: True Stories of Women's Intimate Lives in the Arab World

"As revealing as Lisa Taddeo's bestseller Three Women, but it has a more urgent political mission." —Evening Standard

A fearless exposé of the secrets and lies of women's intimate lives, by the bestselling author of The Perfect Nanny and Adèle

"All those in positions of authority—politicians, parents, teachers—maintain the same line: 'Do what you like, but do it in private.' "

Leila Slimani was in her native Morocco promoting her novel Adèle, about a woman addicted to sex, when she began meeting women who confided the dark secrets of their sexual lives. In Morocco, adultery, abortion, homosexuality, prostitution, and sex outside of marriage are all punishable by law, and women have only two choices: They can be wives or virgins. Sex and Lies combines vivid, often harrowing testimonies with Slimani's passionate and intelligent commentary to make a galvanizing case for a sexual revolution in the Arab world.