Colour. I see colour. I feel heat and pressure and the edges of everything become indistinct. I hover at the edge of a thought. When I fall over the edge I am surprised. Pleased. It is as if I have succumbed to colour. I am filled with it, and full of the idea of smell. My body pulses in the aftermath of this transformation.
This is my first orgasm. I can name it now. I can re-live it. But back then, at the beginning of things, there was no line between the colours and the heat and the scent.
When she was a child Krissy Kneen fell deeply, helplessly in love with her own sexuality. As a young woman she pursued her desires down whatever risk-strewn paths they led. Now, middle-aged and happily married, she remains driven by the need for orgasm, racked by obsessive lust, constantly in thrall to the temptation of pornography.
Could this be a problem?
Affection is the true story of a woman, her body and the extraordinary adventures they’ve shared. It is erotic, insightful and gorgeously written—a profound and disturbing odyssey of self-acceptance, from a major new voice in Australian literature.
Industry Reviews
‘Affection’s triumph is that of an assured novelist of any genre. She sets a scene in curt but vivid detail and injects emotional vibrancy into even cursory encounters….From the outset, Kneen is acutely sexual; her journey, rather, is one of reconciling sex with something that is much harder to understand in a world where magazine covers scream their demands for the perfect orgasm, the perfect boyfriend, the perfect body. Learning to live with yourself, perhaps. Learning not to fall in love with your friends. Learning the meaning of affection. No arrogance required.’
— Sunday Age
‘In this beautifully written, painfully honest book, Kneen explores sexuality, the body and self-image, and the intersection between the three…Kneen’s stark, sensuous writing style and clear-eyed honesty are immensely appealing. And Affection is not just sensuous in relation to writing about the erotic; her childhood recollections are steeped in smells, colours and textures. This is an assured debut.’
— Big Issue
'Affection goes all the way…[the book] seems like an authentic expression of feminine salaciousness, rather than one a woman thinks may be enjoyed by a man…[Kneen] takes a wild pride in refusing to primp either herself or her story into stereotypical palatability.’
— Australian Literary Review
