Book

In a world buzzing with Rampant Rabbits, sex blogs and YouPorn, where mind-blowing sex is a ‘mandatory’ aspiration, how do you cope if you can’t join the party? When your mind says ‘yes, yes YES!’ but your body screams an excruciatingly painful “NO”?

The Chilli Pepper Sex Club is a memoir of Sally’s journey through various sexual health issues, including the burning pain of vulvodynia – a condition that is often misdiagnosed and under-reported, yet affects up to 3.2 million women in the UK. The condition meant that penetrative sex was painful from her teens until the age of 36, when at last she accessed successful treatment and began to make up for all that she had missed.

Often moving and provocative, at times funny and incisive, The Chilli Pepper Sex Club asks pertinent questions about the nature of intimacy, how we define ‘real’ sex and what it means to be a ‘real’ woman. In telling her story, Sally also discusses issues that are high on the cultural agenda including feminism, porn and erotica, culture and language, and body image.

Beta reviews

‘This is an important book covering a condition that devastates millions of women and provides a unique insight into the impact of vulval pain that has not been covered before. Turner writes in a way that is not only personal and deeply reflective, but also with humour and a contemporary flair that many readers will relate to.  Her experience of pain and desperation, though to recovery and enlightenment, will bring hope to many sufferers of vulval pain. The book will also be of interest to all women as there are clear parallels with other chronic conditions.’

– Dr David Nunns, Consultant Gynaecologist and Founder of The Vulval Pain Society

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‘Turner’s openness and honesty gives permission to the women who have suffered in silence to finally seek help and talk about their pain. She offers comprehensive coverage of gynaecological issues which is beyond necessary, bringing to light the experiences of so many women facing sexual health conditions. Yet her writing is never impersonal or clinical, it opens up a dialogue we so desperately need to have and will engage women of all ages and backgrounds.’

– Milly Evans, award-winning sex educator and author

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‘Funny in places, sad in many more, and brutally honest. Turner’s story will resonate with so many women who struggle just to get through the day with the pain of vulvodynia and a multitude of other gynaecological conditions. I know and work with many of them and this account mirrors what so many women are experiencing, yet find difficult to speak about. The wider appeal for me, having never had vulvodynia, is all the other common sexual health issues that are also mentioned from pelvic floor issues to thrush, vulval irritation, cystitis, and more, often experienced by so many women.

Turner weaves engaging historical facts into her story (sadly some of these age-old issues are still with us today) and converts medical terminology clearly into layperson’s terms to help women understand the mechanisms going on in their minds and bodies. But this is no average, dry, self-help book. It is raw personal experience, written with an honest and articulate voice. So many women I meet say they are relieved when they discover that others are going through the same experience. Connecting with someone who can articulate how you are feeling makes such a difference. Turner’s book is also essential reading for partners of women with these issues, medical professionals and, crucially, medical students – particularly trainee GPs, gynaecologists and sex therapists.’

— Sam Evans, founder and managing director, JoDivine

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Publication

The Chilli Pepper Sex Club will be published in January 2025, available in print, as an audiobook, and for Kindle. More details to follow soon.