From the opening scene on the beach to the final chapter, I was swept up in the main character's world. Her feelings, thoughts and perceptions of the world she enters are written in such a way that entering her head was seamless--excellent writing!!
She is a young, privileged woman who has followed the prescribed path, from school, university and landing the plum marketing job and finds she doesn't feel; she doesn't know who she is. When she leaves the safety of the beach, swimming into the unknown, at terrible risk, her feelings become real and solely hers. The familiar, societal norms of England are back on the beach she left.
Her encounters with the men she meets are brutally shocking as may be expected.And so begins her growth and discovery.She is sexually aroused from the physical and psychological abuse these foreign, primitive men she encounters. The author puts the reader inside the main character's skin, and while we may not have masochistic tendencies, the character's reaction is understandable--much like in The Story of O.
When a reader becomes lost in a story and thinks of it for days after, that is the mark of a great novel. This book is like that. There are many levels in the book, which deserve a second and third read.
Well done Chloe Thurlow!! Thanks for taking me on this dark ride!
