Introduction
It can hardly be argued that the current "sexual revolution" of which we hear so much and see so little has been beneficial to a great many people in throwing off the debilitating and unhealthy aspects of the overly rigid Victorian moral code and in easing the repressively inhibited guilt-inducing restrictions of the Puritan ethic-even if seldom actively applied. Still; in their zeal to offset the mistakes of the past, advocates of sexual freedom may sometimes go too far, ignoring the fact that freedom is essentially a matter of responsibility. That a man and a woman are totally responsible for their actions and beliefs, and thus, that they should have the freedom to do whatever they wish to do with their bodies-so long as they do not harm others, and, by implication, also themselves--is generally accepted by the more knowledgeable behavioral scientists. But, the emphasis is almost invariably placed on the process of freeing oneself from the meaningless guilts or overly-repressive inhibitions.
There is another side to the coin: one can go too far. And, it is wise to be reminded occasionally that there is a difference between sexual freedom and sexual license.
In his latest work, Naughty Aunt Sylvia, the author illustrates this point vividly. It is the story of a bright and beautiful young maiden aunt-herself the victim of myriad licentatious persuasions-who is coerced, despite her own best wishes, to deliver members of her family to the very jaws of evil. It isn't that she doesn't love her young niece and nephew-fourteen-year-old Dusty and his twelve-year-old sister, Jordanna-it is just that she is so involved in her own needs and pleasures that she fails to realize the truly irreversible effects she and her lecherous millionaire boyfriend, Adrian Whipple's, activities will have on them.
Perhaps more could be said about this timely novel; about Whipple's "pet" as Sylvia calls them, Cuban bodyguards; about the psychological aspects of being cast alone-adrift as it were-on the face of a vast and uncompromising sea ... But there is nothing that we, The Publishers, could offer at this point that could further enhance the typical breathless Lewis quality of the book itself. You may be shocked by its frankness, appalled by its, at times, brutality, but we promise you this: you will not be bored!
-THE PUBLISHERS