“In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” With these words, women fell into a world that saw them as cursed. They are still falling. Today, we define women by suffering: menstrual cramps, mood swings, excruciating childbirth, painful first-time sex. Femaleness itself has come to look like an illness, so now, women seeking solutions for their ailments are dismissed. And as our pain is sanctioned, our pleasure is deemed tricky, complicated, burdensome, elusive.

This reality is not our destiny. These myths are misreadings not just of ancient texts but of women’s bodies. Our pain is the product of oppression imposed for centuries. That’s the real curse. Yet amid this oppression, our pleasure has survived. Once we recover who we were before the fall, we can revel in the blessings of our bodies. Ecstatic births, positive periods, sublime sex, orgasmic lives — this is who we are behind the cultural curse we’ve been under.

Through inspiring stories from the author and a diverse group of blessed people, Eve’s Blessing charts many paths from pain to pleasure so that you can walk your own. If you’ve drifted away from paradise, this book will guide you back.