Swing City

Billed as literary fiction, this is rather a difficult book to both categorise and review as I am not sure what effect the writer was going for. Told from the point of view of Charles, who is initially shocked when his sexually liberated wife Melody suggests that they should join a swinging club; I was under the impression that this was going to be a funny, sexy romp. However, there were some obvious issues with this. I think on reflection this was more a family drama about two parents going through a bit of a mid life crisis with some humour and swinging thrown in.


Before I start, I think I should mention that I am a fairly unshockable reader of sex scenes, especially m/m. Bisexuality, swinging and bdsm in literature are unlikely to shock me. 


Firstly, I can't say that the humour in the book really did it for me, especially the subplot about an irritating toy that the son owns. Secondly, the biggest flaw for me from the point of view of a book about swinging is that I didn't find the sex scenes erotic or that well written. It almost felt like the author was a little self conscious about writing about sex and often sex scenes ended abruptly and moved to another location right in the middle. Language used is not that erotic and constantly interrupted by Charles's internal smug middle class commentary: ‘he put his penis into her vagina watching Diane licking Melody's clitorus. He was glad that Diane put out the expensive scented candles as it showed how much she cared.' The sex is not overtly explicit to me, a bit of mild bdsm and role play but not in much detail. I found that there isn't a sufficient build up to make it that erotic. Melody is keen to the point of obsession that Charles tries out bisexuality, and I found her urgings quite unpleasant at times as I think if this was written from the pov of a man wanting a woman to try out bisexuality despite her reluctance, readers would find it morally repugnant. He never really explicitly consents to it, just kind of goes with the flow and it's mostly glossed over. 


I thought that Charles was quite a well drawn character and the observations about his inner life are well written as are the parts about his relationship with Melody and his family and how they are affected by the swinging well done. The characters are mostly sympathic, but can feel a bit smug at times as they swan around buying expensive champagne and admiring the beautiful bodies of the sexy people they are about to sleep with. Melody and the women who join them are continually admiring each others' shoes and jewellery. The plot drifts around as a series of incidences rather than an overarching plot, possibly to make it a bit more lifelike.


Maybe I would find this a more enjoyable book if I was interested in swinging, as it was I found it a rather frustrating read. 

I received a free advanced review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.