The Forgotten Art of Erotic Courtship

What happens in the space between feeling attracted to someone and discovering what you can awaken in each other? In The Forgotten Art of Erotic Courtship, Eva Veyran follows Zoe and Leah through encounters that turn on a glance, a hesitation, or the timing of a confession. Moving between fiction and philosophical inquiry, the novel-essay explores how attention, anticipation, imagination and uncertainty can make desire something two people create together.

When we’re in a hurry to know where an encounter is going, we can miss what is happening between us. The book asks what becomes possible when we give that moment time. It considers courtship an art of noticing and responding, one that gives two people room to surprise each other and discover a language of their own.