Chastened

Hephzibah Anderson was turning thirty when she spotted her college boyfriend entering a jeweler's with a grinning blonde. The sight made her notice how long it had been since any man had said he loved her. Looking back over ten years of frustrating romances with men who would not commit, she saw a pattern: nearly every one of them veered off track at the point where sex entered the picture. She resolved to go a full year without sex and find out what it meant to her. This confessional memoir follows her through the year month by month, as she flirts, goes on dates, and falls for people without sleeping with any of them. What she discovers about femininity, her own body, and romance is revealing. Anderson writes candidly about the mixed messages our culture sends regarding sex and how intercourse often stands in for real closeness. Set against the crowd of memoirs that count conquests, Chastened offers a fresh view of what abstinence can bring.