You give me fever: lockdown lust heats up erotica

For writers of ­erotica, lockdowns cannot keep lustful lovers apart. Titles such as Love in the Lockdown and Sex During the Corona­virus Pandemic emerge.

‘This time is full of stories, yet it is also a time empty of stories, and of boredom,’ says literary critic Aelx Preston. Picture: Istock

The coronavirus may be forcing people to keep their distance from each other, but for writers of ­erotica, lockdowns cannot keep lustful lovers apart.

The outbreak has given rise to a new genre of fiction — quarantine erotica — with a series of raunchy stories rushed out and published electronically, often under a pseudonym, exploring lust in the age of COVID-19.

WH Fielding’s latest erotic novel. Picture: Supplied

Books released in recent weeks include Sex During the Corona­virus Pandemic, by WH Fielding, in which protagonist Lucy tries to satisfy her sexual desires while performing social distancing. It has the strapline, “They could lock down her country, but not her heart”, and features a protective mask on the cover.

Another is Love in the Lockdown, by Jordana Pietersen, which tells the story of bored wife June, who begins an affair during the pandemic. June muses: “Sex and death have always been engaged in a dance. Death has his tongue in your mouth, his long fingers around your breasts.”

Other erotic works inspired by the outbreak include Quaranteen: Step-Sibling Love in the Time of the Coronavirus: a Story of Taboo Romance, by Vickie Holmes, and His Rules: Spanked, by Carmen Cuft. The latter tells the story of Ashley, who goes out for a run every day despite her landlord, Matthew, warning her to stay at home. After Ashley and Matthew become intimate, she concedes: “If I get my exercise indoors, I won’t have to go jogging any more.”

The cover of the Sunday Telegraph’ Body & Soul magazine. Picture: Snapper Media

There is also Quarantined with the 10-Inch Soldier, an interracial romance by Jamila Jasper, and Covid-69: An Erotic Coronavirus Quarantine Story, by J. Andrews, which tells the tale of Rosa, whose spring break plans are ruined by the crisis, until the lockdown is ­livened up by her neighbour, Riley, who purrs “like a panther with ­catnip”.

Alex Preston, a literary critic and the author of In Love and War, believes coronavirus will inspire more high-brow literature in the future.

“There are huge narrative possibilities here,” he said. “Immed­iately one thinks about those situations that would be suddenly upended — people having affairs, for instance, forced to return to the homestead.

“This time is full of stories, yet it is also a time empty of stories, and of boredom.”

The Sunday Times