Story of O by Pauline Réage and Sabine d'Estree

The notorious novel of dark obsession How far will a woman go to express her love? In this exquisite novel of passion and desire, the answer emerges through a daring exploration of the deepest bonds of sensual domination. “O” is a beautiful Parisian fashion photographer, determined to understand and prove her consuming devotion to her lover, René, through complete submission to his every whim, his every desire. It is a journey of forbidden, dangerous choices that sweeps her through the secret gardens of the sexual underground. From the inner sanctum of a private club where willing women are schooled in the art of subjugation to the excruciating embraces of René’s friend Sir Stephen, O tests the outermost limits of pleasure. For as O discovers, true freedom lies in her pure and complete willingness to do anything for love.

This is a difficult book, and the very polarized reviews show it – a fictional and yet impressively honest and unashamed portrait of a woman who is submissive not as an attempt to spice up an otherwise insignificant sex life for 15 minutes, but as the very fabric she is woven out of as a human being. The affluent men running a secret Parisian sex society are invented, the fabric is not.

Of course, those who picked up this book to get their rocks off on erotica remain disappointed by the lack of extended fornication, and while the book is exceedingly graphic, it isn't parading endless pornographic scenes around in front of the reader.

Almost as disappointed as those who express their commitment to feminism primarily by telling women how they should lead their lives and which kinks are acceptable for them to have (how ironic, truly).

But if we make it past all of these hurdles and can accept O for what she longs to be, perhaps we learned what Pauline Réage had to teach.