Want : Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous

The acclaimed actor and star of Sex Education curates a groundbreaking volume of anonymous female correspondence about sexual desire, which reveals so much that is usually left unsaid.

What do you want, when no one is watching?What do you want, when the lights are off?What do you want, when you are anonymous?

When we talk about sex, we talk about womanhood and motherhood, infidelity and exploitation, consent and respect, fairness and egalitarianism, love and hate, pleasure and pain. And yet for many reasons – some complicated, some not – so many of us don’t talk about it. Our deepest, most intimate fears and fantasies remain locked away inside of us, until someone comes along with the key.

Here’s the key.

In this generation-defining book, Gillian Anderson collects and introduces the anonymous letters of hundreds of women from around the world (along with her own anonymous letter). They are all extraordinary: full of desire, fear, intimacy, shame, satisfaction and, ultimately, liberation. From dreaming about someone off-limits to conjuring a scene with multiple partners, from sex that is gentle and tender to passionate and playful, from women who have never had sex to women who have had more sex than they can remember, these fantasies provide a window into the most secret part of our minds.

Want reveals how women feel about sex when they have the freedom to be totally anonymous.

MEDIA REVIEWS

Want makes for addictive reading . . . compelling - Guardian

I just loved reading it. It’s exceptional - Fearne Cotton, Happy Place

Want is an intriguing cabinet of curiosities showcasing the sheer glorious variety of female desire; at a time when women’s freedom of expression and agency is under threat in so many places, any platform that allows us to speak up about an aspect of our lives that is still frequently veiled in shame is to be applauded - Observer

That trajectory and sense of self is something Anderson touches on in Want, describing how throughout her life, her feelings about sex and her sexuality have not been static entities - Marie Claire Australia

An empowering project - Stylist

Extremely sexy . . . Want is the horny manifesto your TBR list will thank you for - Cosmopolitan

Every human sexual desire is finally mysterious, unknowable, but there is no doubt that across the ages women’s desire has been perceived as dangerous . . . Anderson allows those desires to speak - Financial Times

Queen of the bisexuals Gillian Anderson, aka Mother, aka the woman we all either want to be, or be with, or both – has just dropped arguably the hottest new book of the year (in more ways than one) - Pink News

You might have the same question I did: Would a book loosely patterned on an erotic bestseller published 50 years ago feel relevant in an age when every manner of sexual imagery and performance, real-life hookups and kink are available in the palm of our hands (so to speak) with a swipe, tap or text? The answer is a definitive yes - Washington Post

Trailblazing . . . what makes Want even more innovative is its inclusivity, with letters from queer women, trans women and non-binary people. - Gay Times