This gripping and daring novel by the author of the bestselling "The Alchemist" sensitively explores the sacred nature of sex and love. "Sensual . . . for-adults-only fairytale."--"Washington Post."

Eleven Minutes is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true love, instead believing that "love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer. . . ." A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune.

Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness--sexual pleasure for its own sake--or risking everything to find her own "inner light" and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.