Some online naturist friends from Twitter have been featured by various news outlets recently for wanting to spend Christmas nude. I made the mistake of reading several of the comments under some of their stories. In a way, I’m glad I did, however. I knew a negative bias exists against naturists, since I once held those very antagonistic beliefs. But after years of being more open minded and free in my views, I needed a reminder of the pervasive ignorance that is out there, and these comments emphasized this point and then some. This is another reason Aching for Eden exists and why I have enjoyed reading from the relatively small niche of naturist fiction books. They are doing what they can to offer a level-headed and accurate portrayal of what naturism actually is. It is not at all what the general public thinks or imagines it might be. Naturist fiction is a great way to normalize naturism against the tide of popular opinion.
We’ve reviewed a few different books and authors on this blog (here, here, and here). Over the holidays, I got to read another book that I had preordered on kindle and just came out. That is the subject of this quick review.
“Who Knew?” by Rowland Jr. was a pleasant Christmas treat. According to the about the author page, “Rowland Jr was a former University Professor, who in early life lived and worked in numerous locations around the world. Still working into his late seventies right up until his death in March of 2021, even attending conferences worldwide when his expertise and knowledge were required, he wrote profusely on many subjects, both fiction and non-fiction and on many fora. He was a published author, and a devoted and blissfully happy husband and proud father with an unshakable faith. He loved books and buying books, was a cheese connoisseur with a fascination for ravens and a love of naturism.” This story was first published in 2016 on naturist-Christians, but in this form this year. I did not know Rowland Jr. while he was alive, but I very much appreciate his offering into this much needed space of both information and inspiration.
Going back to the intro of this post, the stories and situations in this book, though fictional, could come from real life. As a naturist, I can relate and envision how these scenarios in the book could play out in my own relationships or acquaintances. There are accurate portrayals of the knee jerk reactions of people who are outside of the know when they hear about naturism for the first time. This is a lot like the ignorant comments I mentioned before on Twitter. What I love about naturist fiction is the affirmation of my own beliefs manifested in other characters and their interactions with others. It gives me a good sense of relief in knowing, “I’m not crazy!” Left to the crowd-sourced opinions of most everybody, you’d be left to assume that we are all crazy. However, when you really study what naturism actually is, those opinions are shown to be the actual crazy positions. In naturist fiction like “Who Knew?” and others, young people who are from naturist families prove to be more well adjusted in life over their non-naturist counterparts. The craziness of naturism becomes the better philosophy over the common alternative of body shame and squeamishness.
“Who Knew?” is a nice story with several interesting characters and plot points. As a naturist, it’s a delight to read. What’s more? As a Christian naturist, the scenes depicting Christians who are also naturists are entirely relatable. What seems so outlandish to so many becomes humorous to those in the know. In “Who Knew?” there are pastors and deacons and church leaders who happen to enjoy the freedom of clothes free living from time to time. In real life, the same is true. Who knew?
There are also those whose practice of religion forbids them from ever entertaining the idea, let alone studying to see how it reconciles with God’s original intent in scripture. In “Who Knew?” and in real life, it’s their loss.
One more pleasant surprise in this Kindle volume, is the original artwork done by Ben Nijssen throughout the book. Get your own copy today.
You may also read about other fiction featured on this blog:
Aching for Eden 
Sounds good! Can’t wait to read it!
I loved Chain Breakers and the books by DH Jonathan so I’m excited to read a new naturist book 📖 !
Thanks for the review! 🙌🏼
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I am surprised that naturism still meets with such fear and hostility, that people are so threatened by seeing the average person naked. Our society is rife with vile porn and nudity and is only that way because a significant number of people want to see it. You’d think that that a society so keen to see celebrities, actors, and models naked or nearly so would be less uptight about social nudity amongst average folks.
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Indeed, it’s the great double standard. Recently read through the comments on an article about nude pickleball and it’s also very disheartening. That’s because they don’t know how fun and liberating it is!
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I think the reason is that actors, celebrities and models are heavily invested in looking ‘beautiful’ and ‘sexy’. It actually adds to society’s unhealthy attitude to the body. We’re embarrassed to see and be seen unless we fit the bill.
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