Fifty Shades of Grey
2000
- man-woman relationships, fiction
- fiction / contemporary women
- sexual dominance and submission
- fiction / romance / contemporary
- dominance (psychology)
- college students
- businessmen
- adultery
- contemporary women
- contemporary
The story
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms. Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever. This book is intended for mature audiences.
What it’s like
Breathless, close-third first-person prose that rushes through small, anxious details: a rumpled college campus, a glassy Seattle skyline seen from high floors, grey and rain-washed daylight, and interiors of hard steel, glass and white leather. The voice is chatty and self-deprecating, full of blushing asides and rhetorical questions, so the book moves in quick, emotionally charged bursts rather than long contemplative passages. The vibe is heated, obsessive and tense, with a constant undercurrent of anticipation, and it suits a late night alone, a long-haul flight, or a guilty-pleasure read on a rainy weekend. The arc follows a sheltered young woman drawn into a controlling, wealthy man's world and slowly testing her own limits. Sexual content is explicit and frequent, with dominance and submission central; there is some emotional coercion and cruelty, and violence is limited to occasional spanking and restraint rather than gore. Written for adult readers who want steamy romance with a dark, power-charged edge and a voice that keeps things lightly funny.
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