In the 1920’s, Thorne Smith published his classic, Turnabout, which chronicled the hilarious misadventures of a married couple who magically end up in each other’s bodies. In Tiffany Twisted, Alison Tyler updates this story for the new millennium. The result is a lively, sexy read that also offers some genuine lessons on the differences — and commonalities — between the sexes.

Tiffany is a perfectionist who makes her living as a party planner. She works out every day, organizes her underwear drawer by color and fabric, and believes that a list is the solution to every problem. Her boyfriend Kurt is a sweet but slightly rumpled hunk who forgets to pay his credit card bill and whose apartment perennially looks like it was hit by a tornado. On a Mardi Gras vacation with her best friend Melissa, Tiffany accidentally invokes some powerful mojo when she wishes that she could just have one month as Kurt – just enough time to straighten out his life. The next morning, she wakes up back in San Francisco, in Kurt’s body, while Kurt suddenly finds himself sharing a room with Melissa in New Orleans, nursing the hangover that Tiffany should be suffering, and trying to figure out how to fasten a bra.

After the initial shock and anger subside, Tiffany and Kurt do their best to cope with the radical switch. One thing, at least, hasn’t changed: the intense physical attraction between the two of them. However, sex is not as simple as it used to be. Tiffany discovers how difficult it is to control a raging erection, while Kurt finds himself reaching for orgasm but not quite making it.

The turnabout leads the couple to misunderstandings, but also to new honesty. Tiffany and Kurt discover how little they know about each other, even after four years together. As the days stretch into weeks without any resolution to their dilemma, each begins to enjoy certain aspects of the situation. Kurt rebels against Tiffany’s conservative wardrobe and starts to dress her body in short, slutty skirts and punk boots. He learns how to get out of speeding tickets with a little flirting. Tiffany becomes a basketball whiz and starts to lead on the dance floor, and in bed.

Their relationship is tested when Melissa’s fiancé Rick makes a pass at Tiffany (that is, Kurt), and Kurt (i.e. Tiffany) comes close to beating Rick to a pulp in retaliation. I won’t spoil the surprise by revealing any more of the plot. You’ll have to read the book if you want to know whether Kurt and Tiffany ever recover their own bodies.

Alison Tyler excels in making this fable realistic and believable. She homes in on details that never would have occurred to me. For instance, Tiffany, in Kurt’s body, grows a beard because she is too afraid of cutting herself to try shaving. Kurt nearly breaks a leg attempting to walk in high heels. Then there’s the fact that Melissa calls him a dozen times a day to chat. For Tiffany, that’s normal, but Kurt just can’t figure out what it is that women talk about.

Ms. Tyler also exploits her premise to provide some interesting and exciting takes on sex. Making love to a partner who is wearing your flesh can be confusing, but it opens up new realms of fantasy and sensation. It is voyeuristic and auto-erotic. Tiffany’s and Kurt’s physical encounters become increasingly more intense as each brings intimate knowledge of the other’s body to bed with them. They simultaneously experience being subject and object, male and female.

Tiffany Twisted is not deep. Both the main and the secondary characters have some tendency to reflect stereotypes about modern men and women. The book might have benefited from having Kurt be the one who was super-organized and Tiffany who was a bit of a slob.

In any case, the novel is fast-paced, clever, and consistently entertaining, with some delicious sex scenes thrown into the mix. And I’m sure Ms. Tyler would be gratified to know that my husband shared this opinion.

Tiffany Twisted by Alison Tyler
(Virgin Cheek; July 11, 2006; ISBN-10: 0352340398)
Available at: Amazon.com / Amazon UK

© 2007 Lisabet Sarai. All rights reserved. Content may not be copied or used in whole or part without written permission from the author.