‘Eleven minutes’ is the masterpiece of Brazilian bestselling author Paulo Coelho. This novel is based on a fictional account of a woman named Maria who lives in Rio, but moves to Geneva. She is poor and has to do menial jobs to survive in Geneva. Fate led her to be a prostitute. She has accepted her life in this way and keeps on going with it displaying great strength. It is during one of her walks down a street that she feels a sexual awakening inside her. The quest for physical pleasure leads her into some interesting situations, where she tries to find her own body and desires. While she is living a life of a prostitute, trying to understand herself sexually, she comes across a man. She crosses path with a young painter. She is instantly smitten by his charm and he is captivated by Maria too. There is a chance that she might fall in love. At this strange time, love has found her door, will she let it in? Or will it be another sexual adventure for her? This honest tale of a woman's journey to understand her physically and emotionally is bound to keep you hooked till the last page. The descriptions are vivid and yet leave a lot to the imagination. You cannot categorize this as an erotica, rather it will stir your soul and will force you to think and look within. Maria is not alone in this experience and many of us share it at some point or the other. Paulo Coelho deals with the complex and taboo issues of sexual awakening, love and a combination of both. How well can one keep the physical desire and platonic love boxed together in one relationship forms the crux of this book. It was originally written in Portuguese, but was later translated in many languages across the globe.
