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The Veiled Woman
'What did she expect of him? What was her quest? Did she have an unfulfilled desire?'
Transgressive desires and sexual encounters are recounted in these four pieces from one of the greatest writers of erotic fiction.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
62 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 22, 2018
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3389 people want to read
About the author
Anaïs Nin
357 books9,025 followersWriter and diarist, born in Paris to a Catalan father and a Danish mother, Anaïs Nin spent many of her early years with Cuban relatives. Later a naturalized American citizen, she lived and worked in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. Author of avant-garde novels in the French surrealistic style and collections of erotica, she is best known for her life and times in The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volumes I-VII (1966-1980).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 354 reviews
March 11, 2021
i am simply going to say that they don't write them like this anymore and leave it at that.
2.5ish
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currently-reading updates
why NOT add some spice to a tuesday afternoon
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tbr review
felt equal parts cool and embarrassed buying this at the bookstore
2.5ish
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currently-reading updates
why NOT add some spice to a tuesday afternoon
-----------------
tbr review
felt equal parts cool and embarrassed buying this at the bookstore
October 27, 2020
No one:
Nin: his/her sex
Just say pussy u pussy
1970s porn
Nin: his/her sex
Just say pussy u pussy
1970s porn
May 10, 2018
Okay, so it’s basically my own fault for not properly researching what I was reading. I knew of Anaïs Nin as a writer of fiction and essays, so when I picked up this slim volume of short stories, I thought little of it. But as it turns out, she also wrote erotic literature. I’ve reviewed quite a few graphic novels during this 100 Book Year, but this is my first set of graphic short stories. And by graphic, I don’t mean it has pictures. I took this to read this on the train, and as my misconception became clearer, found myself regularly glancing anxiously at the woman next to me in case she could read the content of the page I was on and now considered me a Public Transport Pervert.
It’s important to consider these stories in their proper context. Nin, a complex and controversial character, wrote mostly in the 1940s within a circle of mostly-male literary elite, and sought to find her place at the lead of it. She’s widely considered ground-breaking in the West as a woman writing explicitly (in every sense) about female sexual desire and experience.
These stories reflect that perfectly. Of the four, only one is written from the perspective of a man, and even that is about how he can figure out how to please his paramour rather than obtain his own pleasure. The others, written from first-person female perspectives, explore transgressive desires and fantasies as well as the complex system of highs and lows that define the particular ways that women experience sexuality. Which is obviously all very highbrow stuff to deliver through the medium of loads of doin’ it.
There’s some stuff to make you uncomfortable here. Her characters’ relationship with prostitution doesn’t generally feel realistic, although one does have an experience that makes it clear that her expectations and reality weren’t particularly aligned. But given that she was writing at a time when female sexuality was just starting to become unstuck from some of the moral bindings that had constricted it, it feels important that she’s writing about these things without judgement – since judgement was pretty much all women had had around sex for a long time.
The writing is really strong and vivid, although you can tell that erotica is still in development as a genre. I’m not sure many people would include the description moaning like a pigeon in modern-day erotica. But she is able to develop characters in depth in a very short amount of time, which is impressive. There's also some genuinely beautiful writing in there.
Overall: a really interesting piece of writing from its time, that in many ways still stands up today. And if you saw me reading it on the train, it was for research, honest.
It’s important to consider these stories in their proper context. Nin, a complex and controversial character, wrote mostly in the 1940s within a circle of mostly-male literary elite, and sought to find her place at the lead of it. She’s widely considered ground-breaking in the West as a woman writing explicitly (in every sense) about female sexual desire and experience.
These stories reflect that perfectly. Of the four, only one is written from the perspective of a man, and even that is about how he can figure out how to please his paramour rather than obtain his own pleasure. The others, written from first-person female perspectives, explore transgressive desires and fantasies as well as the complex system of highs and lows that define the particular ways that women experience sexuality. Which is obviously all very highbrow stuff to deliver through the medium of loads of doin’ it.
There’s some stuff to make you uncomfortable here. Her characters’ relationship with prostitution doesn’t generally feel realistic, although one does have an experience that makes it clear that her expectations and reality weren’t particularly aligned. But given that she was writing at a time when female sexuality was just starting to become unstuck from some of the moral bindings that had constricted it, it feels important that she’s writing about these things without judgement – since judgement was pretty much all women had had around sex for a long time.
The writing is really strong and vivid, although you can tell that erotica is still in development as a genre. I’m not sure many people would include the description moaning like a pigeon in modern-day erotica. But she is able to develop characters in depth in a very short amount of time, which is impressive. There's also some genuinely beautiful writing in there.
Overall: a really interesting piece of writing from its time, that in many ways still stands up today. And if you saw me reading it on the train, it was for research, honest.
February 2, 2022
[2.5] Erotica about men and women searching, mostly fruitlessly, for satisfaction. Apparently Nin wrote the stories for $1 a page for a collector. Heavy with sex, they are just quirky enough for me to keep reading - but left me cold. I remember reading Nin's diaries decades ago and was quite enthralled. So I wouldn't judge her by these...
Penguin Modern Classics
#1 - Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
#2 - Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber by Allen Ginsberg
#3 - The Breakthrough by Daphne Du Maurier
#4 - The Custard Heart by Dorothy Parker
#5 - Three Japanese Short Stories (3 authors)
#6 - The Veiled Woman by Anais Nin
Penguin Modern Classics
#1 - Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
#2 - Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber by Allen Ginsberg
#3 - The Breakthrough by Daphne Du Maurier
#4 - The Custard Heart by Dorothy Parker
#5 - Three Japanese Short Stories (3 authors)
#6 - The Veiled Woman by Anais Nin
November 28, 2022
Anaïs Nin is most definitely sitting comfortably in my favourite authors list. After reading Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love": The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1931-1932 a few months back, I was unashamedly smitten, and this little beauty of a book was no exception. This may only consist of 56 pages, but these were 56 pages of pure wonder and beauty, and that quietly explosive writing style that captivates my heart.
Female sexuality and desire is the theme throughout, and we experience closehand everything from the female perspective, which I really love. Sexual desire is the driving force of the four chapters and women we meet here. Nin describes these women so vividly, with such a unique style, that we cannot help but feel their inner most thoughts with an incredible transparency.
The way in which Nin speaks of each female is beautiful. They are all described in intricate detail, taking care not to miss a single aspect of that person. These women are discovering their sexual desires in different ways and forms, and the way in which they do this is really rather exquisite, and why is that, you ask?
Well, that is simple. It is because they are free to do so.
This is an intensely erotic read, full of encounters in the dark, in the back of a car, and even in front of an easel, but it is never a quick fumble with Nin. These are beautiful, sensual and sometimes ferocious intimacies that the reader is not meant to forget.
Female sexuality and desire is the theme throughout, and we experience closehand everything from the female perspective, which I really love. Sexual desire is the driving force of the four chapters and women we meet here. Nin describes these women so vividly, with such a unique style, that we cannot help but feel their inner most thoughts with an incredible transparency.
The way in which Nin speaks of each female is beautiful. They are all described in intricate detail, taking care not to miss a single aspect of that person. These women are discovering their sexual desires in different ways and forms, and the way in which they do this is really rather exquisite, and why is that, you ask?
Well, that is simple. It is because they are free to do so.
This is an intensely erotic read, full of encounters in the dark, in the back of a car, and even in front of an easel, but it is never a quick fumble with Nin. These are beautiful, sensual and sometimes ferocious intimacies that the reader is not meant to forget.
January 14, 2024
After reading many of the low reviews for this collection I think several of these commentators should have more sex and read less
July 2, 2024
Didn’t realise this was erotica when I picked it up. Starting to make my way through my penguin modern classics box set, I have been meaning to pick up books by Anais Nin so I thought this would be a good start! Was interesting, I can appreciate the writing and the fact that 3/4 stories are women’s perspective. Just wasn’t for me! I am looking forward to reading her fiction work
December 17, 2021
Video Review
Here's a further development of what I say in my video review, which I left out because it might be too real/awkward/controversial to say.
The reason why I think Anaïs Nin is underrated is because readers are actually embarrassed and dismayed by both the seductive and tragic power of her stories. I think Nin's stories are a caution against how weak we, men and women, are to the damages caused by casual sexual relations. If there is a theme to these stories, it is 'to have sex without love is overpowering and often damaging'. The use of her terminology of sex for genitals of either biological sex shows that each of us are susceptible to this, and that perhaps is a socially unpopular but mature and honest view. It is somehow cooler to pass on Anaïs Nin's 'obscenity' or 'weird terminology' than to admit that vulnerability is something that can happen in sex.
You could call Nin out for writing smut, but then every reader knows what they were getting into picking her books up. They just perhaps the stories might not be so sad. It also presupposes stories without these events are closer to reality, and that it is more moral to avoid sexually obscene topics, but I don't think either of those points are necessarily the case. I think if anything Nin's stories caution us about how fragile we are in sexual situations, and does so with an intensity and sincerity that people in denial would prefer to dismiss or ignore.
I just feel that in a time where we're trying so hard, perhaps too hard, to find distinct female novelists, it's a shame that the world turns a blind eye or a bad word to a writer who clearly tried something that is still to this day outrageous, unparalleled and frankly difficult to pull off (just about every bestselling author cannot write a realistic sex scene). I for one, think in the little she wrote, that she might have initiated an adult perspective we're still yet to see properly surface in literary fiction.
—
Underrated. Might be the best Penguin Modern. Review coming soon.
"The general accusations passed against writers now is that they write about rot because they love it. Some do, and their works may betray them, but it is impossible not to believe that some write about rot because they see it and recognize it for what it is." — Flannery O'Connor, Mystery & Manners
Here's a further development of what I say in my video review, which I left out because it might be too real/awkward/controversial to say.
The reason why I think Anaïs Nin is underrated is because readers are actually embarrassed and dismayed by both the seductive and tragic power of her stories. I think Nin's stories are a caution against how weak we, men and women, are to the damages caused by casual sexual relations. If there is a theme to these stories, it is 'to have sex without love is overpowering and often damaging'. The use of her terminology of sex for genitals of either biological sex shows that each of us are susceptible to this, and that perhaps is a socially unpopular but mature and honest view. It is somehow cooler to pass on Anaïs Nin's 'obscenity' or 'weird terminology' than to admit that vulnerability is something that can happen in sex.
You could call Nin out for writing smut, but then every reader knows what they were getting into picking her books up. They just perhaps the stories might not be so sad. It also presupposes stories without these events are closer to reality, and that it is more moral to avoid sexually obscene topics, but I don't think either of those points are necessarily the case. I think if anything Nin's stories caution us about how fragile we are in sexual situations, and does so with an intensity and sincerity that people in denial would prefer to dismiss or ignore.
I just feel that in a time where we're trying so hard, perhaps too hard, to find distinct female novelists, it's a shame that the world turns a blind eye or a bad word to a writer who clearly tried something that is still to this day outrageous, unparalleled and frankly difficult to pull off (just about every bestselling author cannot write a realistic sex scene). I for one, think in the little she wrote, that she might have initiated an adult perspective we're still yet to see properly surface in literary fiction.
—
Underrated. Might be the best Penguin Modern. Review coming soon.
May 16, 2018
Why is Nin become so popular? What we have is a selection of writing for perverts. There is no content here that justifies publication.
Attrocious garbage.
Attrocious garbage.
Read
December 30, 2022yeah i did not do any research before reading this book
September 30, 2022
So hot, don't read this at the office.
November 5, 2025
3.5⭐️
These stories had a very noir, sultry feel to them…Of course they’re erotica but without the actual scenes taken into account, everything described did have a very moulin rouge, burlesque essence to it. It was something I quite haven’t felt/read in a book yet and it took me (pleasantly) by surprise. Will definitely be reading more of Anaïs in the future!
These stories had a very noir, sultry feel to them…Of course they’re erotica but without the actual scenes taken into account, everything described did have a very moulin rouge, burlesque essence to it. It was something I quite haven’t felt/read in a book yet and it took me (pleasantly) by surprise. Will definitely be reading more of Anaïs in the future!
November 3, 2021
Erotica isn't a genre I am used to reading, but I loved these short stories. Nin has a talent for establishing interesting characters extremely quickly, and each of the stories were distinctly unique. As for the sex, it was entertaining and also genuinely well written. The prose was great with vivid descriptions of not just what was happening, but also with who and where. So glad I gave this a chance, it was really fun.
March 12, 2024
'Her body emerged like that of Venus coming out of the sea'
1970's smut written for the female gaze. incredible.
hot
so hot
i want more
1970's smut written for the female gaze. incredible.
hot
so hot
i want more
April 23, 2025
Objectief hoort dit een hogere rating te hebben en goed van dit boek dat het zo vooruitstrevend was voor z’n tijd maar voor mij was het gewoon echt te sexy sorry
August 29, 2020
“I shall call myself the madam of a house of literary prostitution, the madam for a group of hungry writers who were turning out erotica for sale to a “collector”. “
Ēdu godži ogas pa vienai vien, lai mazinātu satraukumu un kaismi lasot Anaisu Ninu. Viņas seksuālās iekāres, baudas virsotnes atklāšanas, nebeidzamie eksperimenti, iekāre gan pret vīriešiem, gan sievietēm, ir nebeidzami.
Viņas darbus nevar lasīt kā vienkāršu romānu-Anaisas meistarīgi uzrakstītie erotiskie īsstāsti ievelk seksualitātes pasaulē, kur aizspriedumiem nav vietas, kur var notikt vispārdrošākās fantāzijas un pilnīga sevis iepazīšana.
Ja tev Anaisas Ninas vārds ir svešs, sameklē vienīgo latviski izdoto darbu “Henrijs un Džūna”, kas ir mazs fragments no autores dienassgrāmatām, ko viņa rakstīja visas dzīves laikā- savus seksuālos piedzīvojumus un eksperimentus uzliekot uz papīra.
Savus īsos stāstus Anaisa pārdeva privātam kolekcionāram. Daļa no tiem ir apkopoti vairākās grāmatās. Šī, manis aprakstītā “The veiled woman” grāmatā ir 4 īsstāsti. Tas, ka visi pārdotie stāsti nav apzināti, pierādījās, kad 2016 gadā izdeva jaunu stāstu krājumu “Aulertis”, ko atklāja, kad tas tika izlikts izsolē no kāda kolekcionāra. Amazone šos stāstus pat bloķēja parastā meklēšanas kārtībā, jo tajos esot bijuši pārāk tabu tēmas un likuma pārkāpjoši. Savukārt daudzas no dienasgrāmatām tiek pārizdotas oriģinālā apjomā, jo seksualitātes un grafiskuma dēļ tās agrāk tikušas cenzētas-izņemot daļas laukā.
“I want to fall in love in such a way that the mere sight of a man, even a block away from me, will shake and pierce me, will weaken me, and make me tremble and soften and melt between the legs. That is how I want to fall in love, so hard that the mere thought of him will bring on an orgasm. “
Ak, Anaisa Nina, tu esi literārās seksualitātes dieviete!
Ēdu godži ogas pa vienai vien, lai mazinātu satraukumu un kaismi lasot Anaisu Ninu. Viņas seksuālās iekāres, baudas virsotnes atklāšanas, nebeidzamie eksperimenti, iekāre gan pret vīriešiem, gan sievietēm, ir nebeidzami.
Viņas darbus nevar lasīt kā vienkāršu romānu-Anaisas meistarīgi uzrakstītie erotiskie īsstāsti ievelk seksualitātes pasaulē, kur aizspriedumiem nav vietas, kur var notikt vispārdrošākās fantāzijas un pilnīga sevis iepazīšana.
Ja tev Anaisas Ninas vārds ir svešs, sameklē vienīgo latviski izdoto darbu “Henrijs un Džūna”, kas ir mazs fragments no autores dienassgrāmatām, ko viņa rakstīja visas dzīves laikā- savus seksuālos piedzīvojumus un eksperimentus uzliekot uz papīra.
Savus īsos stāstus Anaisa pārdeva privātam kolekcionāram. Daļa no tiem ir apkopoti vairākās grāmatās. Šī, manis aprakstītā “The veiled woman” grāmatā ir 4 īsstāsti. Tas, ka visi pārdotie stāsti nav apzināti, pierādījās, kad 2016 gadā izdeva jaunu stāstu krājumu “Aulertis”, ko atklāja, kad tas tika izlikts izsolē no kāda kolekcionāra. Amazone šos stāstus pat bloķēja parastā meklēšanas kārtībā, jo tajos esot bijuši pārāk tabu tēmas un likuma pārkāpjoši. Savukārt daudzas no dienasgrāmatām tiek pārizdotas oriģinālā apjomā, jo seksualitātes un grafiskuma dēļ tās agrāk tikušas cenzētas-izņemot daļas laukā.
“I want to fall in love in such a way that the mere sight of a man, even a block away from me, will shake and pierce me, will weaken me, and make me tremble and soften and melt between the legs. That is how I want to fall in love, so hard that the mere thought of him will bring on an orgasm. “
Ak, Anaisa Nina, tu esi literārās seksualitātes dieviete!
December 2, 2022
Saucy but I’ve read saucier. Weird and dreamlike, reminiscent of Kafka and Murakami in that things just kind of...happen, but also not long enough to deliver any satisfying resolutions (ironically).
I purchased this on a trip to London and Fez without knowing that Fez is featured prominently in one of the stories (another book about Fez that I read during the trip even made direct reference to Anaïs Nin) so that was a nice personal tie-in, gross orientalism notwithstanding.
Check out more of my reviews on my website! https://readwithmu.com/
And find me on Instagram :) https://www.instagram.com/readwithmu/
I purchased this on a trip to London and Fez without knowing that Fez is featured prominently in one of the stories (another book about Fez that I read during the trip even made direct reference to Anaïs Nin) so that was a nice personal tie-in, gross orientalism notwithstanding.
Check out more of my reviews on my website! https://readwithmu.com/
And find me on Instagram :) https://www.instagram.com/readwithmu/
September 21, 2025
just say penis and vagina
August 11, 2025
I suppose we have to read these through the lens of the time they were written, and that they are non-judgemental about women. But they were a bit meh, all about the sensuous descriptions and no real plot - I enjoyed her diaries far more!
May 27, 2025
When I picked up The Veiled Woman by Anaïs Nin, I wasn't aware that it was an erotic collection. The book contains four short stories, each exploring themes of intimacy and desire from a woman's perspective. Stepping outside my usual reading choices, I found myself genuinely captivated by the narratives, especially Linda's story, which stood out to me.
What impressed me most was Nin's ability to create a strong connection to her characters within such a short space (10-15 pages). It speaks to her skill in delivering meaningful characters ( I dont want to say well-developed characters), which is rare in short stories. I find it challenging for many writers to achieve this, especially in the short stories genre, where it's easy to lose readers' emotional engagement.
Reading this has definitely made me curious about Nin’s other works.
One quote that I liked:
"The masks gave people a liberty that turned the most refined ones into hungry animals."
What impressed me most was Nin's ability to create a strong connection to her characters within such a short space (10-15 pages). It speaks to her skill in delivering meaningful characters ( I dont want to say well-developed characters), which is rare in short stories. I find it challenging for many writers to achieve this, especially in the short stories genre, where it's easy to lose readers' emotional engagement.
Reading this has definitely made me curious about Nin’s other works.
One quote that I liked:
"The masks gave people a liberty that turned the most refined ones into hungry animals."
June 3, 2025
"The masks gave people a liberty that turned the most refined ones into hungry animals."
Anaïs Nin's prose is, as always, something to die for. I find the way she writes erotica to come across as more clinical than "sexy," though that's just her thing. I'm not here to intellectualize what is at the end of the day, erotica, but she does have a way with words, even in the worst contexts.
She has an easy way of weaving men's misogyny or women's hardships into her writing, that she doesn't spoon feed you. She puts you into the shoes of the women, even though it's from the men's perspective. You get to see their perversion, misogyny, and view of women as less than.
Anaïs Nin's prose is, as always, something to die for. I find the way she writes erotica to come across as more clinical than "sexy," though that's just her thing. I'm not here to intellectualize what is at the end of the day, erotica, but she does have a way with words, even in the worst contexts.
She has an easy way of weaving men's misogyny or women's hardships into her writing, that she doesn't spoon feed you. She puts you into the shoes of the women, even though it's from the men's perspective. You get to see their perversion, misogyny, and view of women as less than.
March 14, 2022
The Parisian hairdresser plays a vital role in the life of a Frenchwoman. He not only dresses her hair, about which she is particularly fastidious, but he is an arbiter of fashion. He is her best critic and confessor in matters of love. The two hours that it takes to get one's hair washed, curled and dried is ample time for confidences.
July 31, 2023
these short stories about female pleasure, the female gaze, and sexual agency were definitely ahead of their time. however, in a contemporary context there are a numerous problematic parts that i simply cannot ignore.
November 23, 2021
Blijft goed.
April 6, 2022
Like reading velvet.
September 4, 2024
huchhhhh 🤭
January 13, 2025
4.5: we know how much I love this woman and these stories. Second time reading them, just never in this collection. The veiled woman you will always be famous. Mandra and Linda I love you
September 7, 2021
Oh, the 70s girlies would've loved this one.
June 7, 2018
Avant toute chose, Anaïs Non est connue pour ses écrits érotiques. Venus Erotica, comme son nom l’indique, est donc un recueil de nouvelles érotiques.
J’ai beaucoup apprécié ce court recueil de nouvelles. L’écriture d’Anaïs Nin est très belle. Elle emporte le lecture dans un monde de séduction, de fantasmes et de rêves éveillés. Que cela soit lorsqu’elle décrit des lieux à Paris ou New-York, j’ai été transportée par ses vives descriptions d’un monde qui n’existe plus.
Si le côté érotique vous effraie, ne vous inquiétez pas, c’est de la belle littérature qui mérite amplement d’être lue et relue.
J’ai beaucoup apprécié ce court recueil de nouvelles. L’écriture d’Anaïs Nin est très belle. Elle emporte le lecture dans un monde de séduction, de fantasmes et de rêves éveillés. Que cela soit lorsqu’elle décrit des lieux à Paris ou New-York, j’ai été transportée par ses vives descriptions d’un monde qui n’existe plus.
Si le côté érotique vous effraie, ne vous inquiétez pas, c’est de la belle littérature qui mérite amplement d’être lue et relue.
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