What’s a girl to do when the only way she can show love is in a song?
The Woman Inside Her is a novel-in-progress. As the story begins …
The year is 1969, “the pill” has arrived, the Sexual Revolution is in full swing, and all the rules about relationships and sex have been turned upside down. Experimentation and consciousness exploration are in and everything traditional is out, and San Francisco is the center of it all.
Thrown into this steamy cauldron is twenty-one-year-old Krista Hiatt, a statuesque beauty who turns heads and sparks men’s fantasies, especially men who deem it their mission to help liberate the sexuality of every accessible female. After all, in these times of “free love,” women could and these men assumed should “do it” as readily as men. But Krista does not willingly play the temptress role that is projected onto her. Because of her painful history, she cannot be or do what is expected of her. Still, while her journey isn’t easy, she is a survivor, smart and resilient. And refusing to accept the fate she fears–that she will never truly love and be loved–she clings to a belief that her destiny will be transformed if she finds “the one” who will ravish her and lead her across the final threshold from girlhood to womanhood. She hopes. Maybe. And if she doesn’t screw it up.
Enter psychologist Garrett Traynor, thirty-nine, a thoroughly gorgeous, recently divorced father of a “tween” girl–and a man who is unnervingly sexy. Krista and Garrett are intensely and inexplicably drawn to one another, but is it their destiny to be together? Is finding “the one” really the key to her happiness? And what of her dream of singing jazz and pop music in nightclubs, maybe even recording an album one day?
How much are potential, our expectations and even our dreams, defined by our history and the limits of our imagination? Is transformation drawn from the depths of where we least expect it? Things, and people, are not always what they seem.
(YouTube Recording: “I’m Always Drunk In San Francisco” — Carmen McRae is Krista’s favorite jazz singer. The Portrait of Carmen album from which the above track is taken was released in 1968. It is provided to YouTube by Rhino Atlantic.)
Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, c. 1486 — Wikipedia
The Woman Inside Her boldly delves into realms of romance and relationships, psyche and soul, the carnal and the sacred. On the surface, it is a coming of age story about a young woman’s journey to sexual awakening, but one with uncommon twists and turns that derive from familial and religious sexual repression, misinformation, and abuse, all clashing with the culturally volatile era the story is set in. On a deeper level, however, it is a tale about how the journey to meaningful love and healthy sexual intimacy may not only be the most rewarding but the most challenging of quests for human fulfillment, yet one that is often taken for granted. It shouldn’t be.
Set in San Francisco at the peak of the late 1960s “sexual revolution,” The Woman Inside Her is a story that will leave readers asking questions for our times: How do we arrive at a capacity for healthy sexual intimacy as adults? Where do we get our information—or misinformation? Our family? Schools? Places of worship? Peers? Porn? How do we reduce shame and foster respect? What underlies our passions and motivates our partner choices? How do we avoid harm, even harming others, and how do we heal? Perhaps with enough thoughtful answers to these questions we can one day arrive at a time when no one needs to say, “Me, too.”
COMING SOON! I invite you to follow my blog and watch for occasional new posts about my recollections and research into the rollicking ride that was life in San Francisco in the Sixties. I’ll be sharing fun and fascinating insights into then and now, from dating and relationships, women’s roles and empowerment struggles to men’s challenges, politics, religion, music, fashion and more.
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Disclaimer: The Woman Inside Her is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2020 Martta Karol, All Rights Reserved
Martta Karol 