Behind God’s Back: Secret, Shadows, and Sex by Anna O’Moss
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When six old friends meet for lunch… they discover things about each other… they never knew existed…
Sandra, a writer, excited to have a book deal, which is based on her story of FORBIDDEN LUST, now must tell her friends what really happened on their last church camping trip. They swore they would never speak of it again and now it is going to be exposed to the world.Now in her forties, Darlene is outraged, until she lets them in on her secret.
As their day turns into the night, a few bottles of wine later, these forty-year-old women share their secrets of forbidden lust too. Some tales are riddled with guilt, and others are so guilty because their stories of sexual pleasure are forbidden in the eyes of society, especially when their spiritual and religious beliefs conflict with each other.
As the story unfolds, the girls are appalled to learn about one of their secrets that they take a vow to remain friends forever – the same vow that they took twenty-five years ago, which brought them together this afternoon. Sandra didn’t know these hidden fascinating stories about her friends would end up being including in her book. All that she knew was the little secret between her and Darlene and that ‘unforgettable night’!
Their stories are of love, humor, anger, pain, and, sometimes, graphic sexual dialogue, along with their vivid images, and those haunting teenage memories move them to tears, and leaves them all questioning life itself. (synopsis from the author)
The first few chapters of this book were a little confusing. The author kept bouncing back and forth between the characters and sharing tidbits of their lives but it was all jumbled and didn’t make much sense. I had a hard time getting through the early chapters.
Once the big secret is revealed the book gets really good. The shock of the story leaves one friend horrified, one sobbing, and another shocked to her core. As the women try to get themselves together they begin sharing their own secrets of “forbidden lust”. The stories range from shocking and jaw dropping to slightly embarrassing. I couldn’t wait to find out what the next woman would reveal. It kept me intrigued and into the story.
The ending was a bit of a let down as it was months or years in the future and gave a quick wrap up of the women’s lives. It was a bit choppy and didn’t seem to really flow with the rest of the book.
Overall I found this to be a fun read that left me thinking about my own life, God, and sex. It was interesting how each woman felt differently about God, religion, and sex. This was a night that changed all of their lives, mostly for the good, all because of the secrets they were finally able to let go of and tell their friends.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.
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