Emmanuelle

Emmanuelle is, alongside Story of O, a classic book of erotica and the most famous French underground novel of the late twentieth century and a work of seductive literary merit. Emmanuelle II continues the story of an unforgettable woman, a happy sensualist, whose unusual erotic experimentation explores the philosophy of sexuality in a novel of literary and philosophical merit. The beautiful heroine's initiation into the ecstasies of love are here set against the exotic background of Thailand, where she easily moves from the attentions of a handsome Siamese prince at an elegant soiree to the dark ante-chamber of a Buddhist temple to learn how the vow of celibacy can be cleverly circumvented by a venerable old monk. A sensual delight, Emmanuelle II succeeds, like few novels before it, in pushing the philosophy of eroticism to the frontiers of myth. This is one of the few erotic novels of ideas since Sade. Its exploration of delightful fantasy transformed into exquisite fulfillment makes this one of the finest erotic novels ever published. It is as pertinent today as it was four decades ago.