....it's true. I've had a lot more chance to do so lately, because of my assortment of medical trials and troubles
Most recently I had a chance to read 'The Bride Stripped Bare', written by Annonymous, who all avid readers and bookish sorts will by now know to be Nikki Gemmell.
It's a book I've been meaning to read for some time, it fits right in with the sorts of things I want to study (namely sex and women and men and all that messy stuff), so I was eager to get my hands on a copy. Because I'm stubborn and didn't want to special order something, it's taken me quite a while. Eventually I spotted one whilst traipsing through Borders a few weeks ago. > > > > > >
This book blew my mind. To give you an idea of what we're dealing with:
A woman disappears, leaving behind an incendiary diary chronicling a journey of sexual awakening. To all who knew her, she was the good wife: happy, devoted, content. But the diary reveals a secret self, one who's discovered that her new marriage contains mysteries of its own. She has discovered a forgotten Elizabethan manuscript that dares to speak of what women truly desire, and inspired by its revelations, she tastes for the first time the intoxicating power of knowing what she wants and how to get it. The question is: How long can she sustain a perilous double life?
I fell in love with the main character fairly quickly and it's hard not to, even just a little bit. So desperate to be loved and to fit in with what she thinks she should be doing or should be up to that she neglects what she wants and needs - it's an illustration of many women I know, many women I don't and in some aspects of my life, myself. Gemmell creates an everywoman character that I think, we can all relate to.
The book is erotic and it does delve into the midst of a woman's sexual fantasy and longing as well as the affair that could be her saving grace or her undoing. That said, the sexual aspects of the book are very well done, not smutty, but well written and, something I like in any book, realistic. It doesn't for a second pretend to be something it's not, nor does it gloss over some of the less than pleasant aspects of sex or, 'love-making.' I love the book for it's realism and frankness - it's not afraid to say the things that everyone is thinking.
The unknown of the book, which I won't delve into too much (spoilers!), does give it a chilling aspect. I was left desperately wanting to know what happened next, but aware that these were answers I probably wouldn't have. Frustrating, yes, but that desire to know more, to me is a sign of a good read.
No comments:
Post a Comment