Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho

This gripping and daring novel by the author of the bestselling The Alchemist sensitively explores the sacred nature of sex and love. Sensual... for-adults-only fairytale.--Washington Post. n nEleven Minutes is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true love, instead believing that love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer.... A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune.n n n Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness--sexual pleasure for its own sake--or risking everything to find her own inner light and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.