It is difficult to overstate the raunchiness of the novel.

Wetlands opens in a hospital room after an intimate shaving accident. It gives a detailed topography of Helen's hemorrhoids, continues into the subject of anal intercourse and only gains momentum from there, eventually reaching avocado pits as objects of female sexual satisfaction and - here is where the debate kicks in - just possibly female empowerment.

Clearly the novel has struck a nerve, catching a wave of popular interest in renewing the debate over women's roles and image in society.