In Brittany Newell’s new novel, Soft Core (out Feb. 4 via Farrar, Straus and Giroux), a sex worker searches for her missing ex-boyfriend in San Francisco’s kinky underbelly. Though it’s about a ...

Sex even features prominently in novels regardless of its narrative importance. Take Brittany Newell’s second novel, Soft Core, for instance. As Ruthie – also known as the stripper Baby, also known as ...