A moving story of liberation that shatters tired prejudices about womanhood, sex, and society.

Josephine teaches in a high school in a suburb of Paris. Her life is a balancing act between Xanax and Tupperware lunches in the staff room until she walks into a Champs-Elysée’s strip club.

There she learns a secret nocturnal code of conduct; she discovers camaraderie and the joys of female company, and she thrills at the sensation of men’s desire directed toward her. Josephine, a teacher by day, begins to lead a secret existence by night that ultimately allows her to regain control of her life. This delicate balance is shattered one evening by an unexpected visitor to the club where she dances.

A heartrending reflection on a woman’s image of herself, and the way others see her, Ketty Rouf’s extraordinary debut novel No Touching won the prestigious French literary prize Prix du Premier Roman 2020 (First Novel award)

Ketty Rouf
Ketty Rouf was born in Trieste, Italy, in 1970. After reading for a masters’ degree in philosophy, she settled in Paris to pursue her studies, advised by eminent French philosopher Paul Ricœur, and take classical dance lessons. After a stint at the department of education, she now works as Italian language tutor, translator and interpreter. No Touching is her first novel.