Girl Unbound

Diane Blake gets vertigo staring at the degree mounted on her wall. Her future prospects - as wife and worker bee - are bleak, but her bursting sexuality and self-doubt strike real dread. Testing herself, Diane flies to Japan for the life of a bohemian English teacher. Diane is in for a rude awakening as the blonde gaijin in an alien culture. Her life becomes a rollercoaster ride of self-discovery and romantic conquests; Zoltan, a Yugoslavian chess master, Nigel, the Australian, and Mauricio, the Brazilian sailor who gives Diane one perfect night of sexual bliss. But Diane suspects little of the darkness awaiting her as a lover of Japanese men struggling to maintain her identity in a world where love is often purchased, and a simple misunderstanding can mean the difference between independence and slavery. In this gripping fictional memoir, author Cheryl Timms Strauss recounts her own struggle for identity, love, and the sense of empowerment that allows us all to live free and unbound.