Cathedrals of the Flesh

Book excerpt: 'A lot of books make you feel dirty. This one makes you wish you were clean' Guardian 'Who cares about home when you can steam with Finns and soak with Japanese, while consorting with Belgian art dealers and Romanian prostitutes? ... beautifully written' Sunday Times _____________________ People journey to Greece for the ruins, Turkey for the Hagia Sophia, and Russia for St. Peter's, but Alexia Brue travels with a different itinerary: to visit the baths. What starts off as an innocent vacation quickly becomes an obsession, as the author ventures to Turkey, Greece, Russia, Finland, and Japan to sample the range of bathing traditions the world has to offer. Caught up in the tide of travel and exploration and crossing paths with fellow travellers along the way, Alexia drifts further and further away from the life she left behind in New York City. Hoping to find a thriving local bath scene, she dips into hamams, banyas, saunas, and onsen, finding both disappointment and bliss. At once deeply personal and highly informative, full of intimacies, discoveries, and unexpected twists, CATHEDRALS OF THE FLESH is the candid and playful account of one woman's determination to follow her passion, ultimately inspiring readers to do the same.