Hutchinson Heinemann pre-empts Chung’s ‘electrifying’ exploration of female desire

Hutchinson Heinemann has signed What Women Want: Conversations on Desire, Power, Love and Growth by psychotherapist Maxine Mei-Fung Chung, author of The Eighth Girl (Pushkin Vertigo).

Managing director Venetia Butterfield and editorial director Anna Argenio pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights from Eugenie Furniss at 42, for publication in hardback, e-book and audio in February 2023.

The publisher’s synopsis reads: “Through the profound and moving stories of seven very different women, psychotherapist Maxine Mei-Fung Chung sheds light on our most fundamental needs and desires.

“From a young bride-to-be struggling to accept her sexuality, to a mother grappling with questions of identity and belonging, and a woman learning to heal after years of trauma, What Women Want is a deeply intimate examination into the inner lives of women.

“Based on hours of conversations between Maxine and her patients, this book lays bare our fears, hopes, secrets and capacity for healing. With great empathy and precision, What Women Want presents a fearless look at the depths of who we are, so that we can better understand each other and ourselves.”

Maxine Mei-Fung Chung is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and writer with more than 15 years of clinical experience. She lectures on gender and sexuality, trauma and attachment theory at the Bowlby Centre and was presented with the Jafar Kareem Award for her work supporting people from ethnic minorities experiencing isolation and mental health problems. What Women Want is her first work of non-fiction.

Chung said: "What Women Want is an opportunity to transcend Sigmund Freud’s unanswered question of ‘What does a woman want?’ to the premise that women want. Period. Women are not a mystery and neither are our wants and needs.

“But there is complexity attached to our desire. This complexity and figuring is the engine behind What Women Want. I hope to give readers the opportunity to experience desire their way. It is through our connecting with each other that we will together be empowered and free of patriarchy’s reach. What Women Want could not be in finer hands, and heart, with the Hutchinson Heinemann team, Anna, Venetia and beyond.”

Argenio commented: “What Women Want is a book to be treasured, read and re-read, shared and spoken about, in the way only the very best books are.

“It’s pin-sharp, raw and evocative in its exploration of desire, but also gently empathetic and intimate. Reading it is equal parts challenging and healing, revealing our fears and insecurities, the cracks that make each of us who we are.

“Most importantly, Maxine’s extraordinary book liberates and empowers us to claim what we truly want – and I know I speak for the whole Hutchinson Heinemann team when I say that we are delighted to be publishing it.”