The Valorans instead are fully hermaphrodites, but since young age, they lean toward a gender, and so, even if they have both genitalia, they identify as a male or female; moreover, they are very private regarding sexuality and homosexuality is basically nonexistent; to Afton, who was raised as a male, the attraction he feels toward Lefi, a male, is unsettling, and to add trouble to his worries, Somians are very sexual people, exactly the opposite of Valorans, and Lefi is a sex worker, a Bacchi (basically a high paid and recognized prostitute).
There is a second, parallel plot about a slave black market where Valorans are sold to brothels, and Afton, as a police inspector, is required to investigate, and Lefi is his “liason”. But truth be told, this wasn’t the plot I was interested in, more interesting was the slow seduction of Lefi towards Afton, and Afton questioning not only his sexuality, but the entire emotional structure of his own people. This is a sensitive matter and I don’t want to approach it in a way that is indelicate, but my feeling was that, even if Afton start to consider his female genitalia (while instead, previously, he completely ignored them), in no way he changes his male attitude to life; for example, Afton can bear children, but he has never considered the option, as a male, and still doesn’t consider it even when he falls in love for another men.
Paperback: 404 pages
Publisher: lulu.com (September 30, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1304499812
ISBN-13: 978-1304499813
Amazon: The Bacchi
Amazon Kindle: The Bacchi
Series: An Uncommon Whore
1) An Uncommon Whore: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1012367.html
2) The Bacchi
More Reviews by Author at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Reviews
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