Have you or haven’t you?
Everywhere I go lately the conversation ends up at Fifty Shades of Grey, the novel by E.L James that has swept the UK and the US like a proverbial hailstorm. Dinners, lunches and many conversations in-between have revolved around this book and the two sequels. I am intrigued… I understand from the chat and the publicity that it is one raunchy read… with a guarantee to make the most open of us blush. I hope you don’t mind me taking about this but I think of you as friends and French Essence as a place where we can discuss many topics. I consider this an interesting subject for our ‘girl talk’ and I am curious to know your thoughts on these highly contentious novels.
I have heard that Fifty Shades of Grey is totally shocking, that it is poorly written and that it is total rubbish. I have also heard that it’s not that shocking, that it is quite well written and that it is simply an erotic love story with a twist. I don’t know the answer but I do know that anyone who can write a novel that ends up on the New York Times Bestsellers List, The UK Bestsellers List and who sells in excess of 12 million copies of the combined trilogy has hit the jackpot in more ways than one. Obviously financially this is an incredible turn of events… but apart from that… writing is hard and selling books is even harder. Granted shock value will sell… and we all know that sex sells, whether it be in advertising, film or other media related areas. But 12 million copies… and I don’t think that includes the e-books that are downloading every second… This is one major success story… move over J.K Rowling… E.L James is on your tail.
Fifty Shades of Grey has been described as the Lady Chatterley’s Lover of our generation… it may also become Britain’s best selling novel of all time! The land that produced Shakespeare and Dickens, Hardy and Bronte has turned up the heat; the female population is eschewing the classics in favour of a new kind of ‘Mills and Boon romance’… Apparently Fifty Shades of Grey has sold more copies than the Da Vinci Code and is fast closing in on Harry Potter… I guess this ‘wizardry’ for women has hit a spot.
So why is it so popular? To put it bluntly… it can’t be just the sex… however graphic it might be. Is it the forbidden idea of dominance and submission? Or is it the love story between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey that has women rushing to their Kindles or turning the pages of their books? Why has this trilogy hit the world by storm? Are women so starved for adventure, romance and affection in their lives that such escapism provides a valuable retreat?
Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey? What did you think? Why is it such a phenomenon? xv
To listen to E.L James discuss Fifty Shades of Grey click here
