Sonora Jha on female desire, reclaiming agency, and solitude for self-discovery | eShe Book Club

Female desire doesn't diminish with age but is often suppressed by societal expectations. Making unconventional choices publicly can be an act of defiance against patriarchal norms. These were some of the topics that came up during eShe’s inaugural Book Club discussion featuring award-winning author Sonora Jha’s new novel Intemperance.The discussion, moderated by Aekta Kapoor, founder and chief editor of eShe, brought together readers from across time zones to explore themes of female desire, ageing, self-love, disability, and challenging societal norms. The discussion brought up how Brahminical patriarchy intersects with disability, caste and gender, and the value of messiness and complexity in women's narratives.Important questions were raised: what happens when women refuse to age into invisibility? Is there any prerequisite to enjoying desire or sensual pleasure? What if women were the main characters in their own stories and refused to follow someone else’s script?Watch the full discussion or head over to eshe.in for the report.