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Submissionby Marthe Blau
Synopses & Reviews
Now American readers can be riveted by the controversial novel that, according to The Sunday Times (London), "sent tremours through the French establishment." Sexual obsession, domination, and extreme desire drive the story of Elodie, a young married Parisian lawyer who finds herself swept up in a cycle of sadomasochistic lust.
A handsome stranger she meets in court issues her a series of instructions that she feels compelled to follow. He introduces her to sex clubs hidden in dark alleys, toys that enhance physical pleasure as well as pain, and couples whose appetites are as voracious as his. What at first seems out of character for and#201;lodie quickly begins to shape her self-identity. As the violence of their encounters escalates, these acts become a dangerous addiction she can't break. But how far can she go and how much of her life will she risk in the process?
Based on the author's own experience, this sophisticated and captivating novel exudes the sensuality that only the French know how to deliver.
"Even the most slavish Francophiles will long for something a bit more substantial than the string of garter belts, dildoes and illicit sexual encounters on offer in this debut novel of sexual obsession set in Paris, a knockoff of The Story of O. Elodie is a young mother and successful lawyer whose deviant affair with a dominating colleague is allegedly based on the author's own experience. Summoned one night to the rooms of this curiously magnetic man, Elodie is transformed when he announces, 'Nobody will ever treat you as I'm going to treat you,' then proceeds to blindfold her, sodomize her with a mysterious foreign object and bring her to an 'incredible, overwhelming' orgasm that leaves her panting for more. Then the trouble really begins for poor Elodie — for all her obedience and humiliation, a 'penetrating silence' is as close as she ever gets to actual penetration by the sadistic man she refers to as 'Him.' And though readers, for better or worse, will feel 'the torture of waiting' almost as acutely as does his plaything, some will surely long for a dose of Houellebecq-ian philosophy to give these bleak encounters a little soul. As erotica, it titillates. But as literature, it feels unconsummated. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Elodie is an attractive 30-something lawyer who loves her husband, her son and the city in which she lives, Paris. One day her eyes meet the piercing gaze of a man who begins to exercise an irresistible and diabolic spell over her, both pleasurable and excruciating. Under his spell, Elodie discovers the erotic hunger of the flesh and the commanding power of words as she enters into an obsessive, tormenting relationship.
A sophisticated and enticing French confessional erotic account in the tradition of La vie sexuelle de Catherine M.
Elodie is an attractive thirty-something lawyer who loves her husband, her son and the city in which she lives, Paris. Her friends, like her, are successful, fun-loving and wealthy.
One day in Court, however, her eyes meet the piercing gaze of a man and she finds herself unable to look away. The man begins to exercise an irresistible and diabolic spell over her, both pleasurable and excruciating. Under his spell, Elodie discovers the erotic hunger of the flesh and the commanding power of words as she enters into an obsessive, tormenting relationship. Thoughts of him invade her life, what he does to her, but even more, what he makes her do. She is mesmerized by his skin, his voice, his commands. Words chosen for her, words that burn like the crack of a whip. But how does he see her? As a lover, or a well-trained circus animal gifted with a human female anatomy.
In describing the sweet pain of his mastery over her, perhaps he will at last understand.
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