HarperCollins, March 2004
ISBN: 000716226X
There must be something in remaining faceless and nameless. The condition has certainly given the author of The Bride Stripped Bare a hell of a lot of leeway in exploring not only the mechanics of sex but the politics inherent in the exchange. It is a dark tale, though, not least foreshadowed by its portrayal as the diary of a woman who has disappeared.
It’s told from the point of view of a fairly everyday middle-class wife living in London with her husband, Cole, a regularly absent art restorer, and best friend, Theo, her best friend since childhood. She’s also living with a flock of sexual fantasies compounded by an abiding insecurity gained from watching the unrepressed Theo grow from experimental adolescent into an experienced sex therapist and bedroom veteran. Between the two extremes of her bland husband and her salacious friend, the good wife disappears down the cracks of her life into a real hell of her own making.
ISBN: 000716226X
There must be something in remaining faceless and nameless. The condition has certainly given the author of The Bride Stripped Bare a hell of a lot of leeway in exploring not only the mechanics of sex but the politics inherent in the exchange. It is a dark tale, though, not least foreshadowed by its portrayal as the diary of a woman who has disappeared.
It’s told from the point of view of a fairly everyday middle-class wife living in London with her husband, Cole, a regularly absent art restorer, and best friend, Theo, her best friend since childhood. She’s also living with a flock of sexual fantasies compounded by an abiding insecurity gained from watching the unrepressed Theo grow from experimental adolescent into an experienced sex therapist and bedroom veteran. Between the two extremes of her bland husband and her salacious friend, the good wife disappears down the cracks of her life into a real hell of her own making.
Of course, none of this has stopped the publishers of the book from selling it as some sort of bawdy revelation for the modern woman. In fact, it is a much more subtle and dramatic story and while it has the arc of tragedy, there is also a ferocious intensity to listening to a woman come apart at the seams.
Eventually, her fantasies give way to deeds as she sets about seducing a thirty-year-old virgin screenwriter at the London Library. Finding a virgin in London might not be as hard as one would think but Gabriel’s portrayal as a Spanish Adonis is a little far-fetched. While the ribbed yet sensitive Gabriel makes fine fodder for the bedroom acrobatics etched within, he comes off in the end as more of an excuse than a reason to breathe.
The more far-reaching landscape of the bride’s affair, recounted in first-person detail, is some heavy emotional ground and the author rightfully explores the full spectrum of ecstasy and betrayal. It is, as one would imagine, filled with pitfalls but to the author’s credit they are more often the quiet implosions of heartbreak and not the melodramatic stuff of most romances.
Eventually, her fantasies give way to deeds as she sets about seducing a thirty-year-old virgin screenwriter at the London Library. Finding a virgin in London might not be as hard as one would think but Gabriel’s portrayal as a Spanish Adonis is a little far-fetched. While the ribbed yet sensitive Gabriel makes fine fodder for the bedroom acrobatics etched within, he comes off in the end as more of an excuse than a reason to breathe.
The more far-reaching landscape of the bride’s affair, recounted in first-person detail, is some heavy emotional ground and the author rightfully explores the full spectrum of ecstasy and betrayal. It is, as one would imagine, filled with pitfalls but to the author’s credit they are more often the quiet implosions of heartbreak and not the melodramatic stuff of most romances.
Something like Chuck Palahniuk, the short, sharp passages and fragmented sentences do carry an immediacy and a breathless wondering what comes next.
There is also some racy description here as the anonymous bride joyfully experiences the intricacies of hush-hush coupling and anybody who is looking for it will find all the ins and outs about who put what where. There are plenty of flushed cheeks here on the Tube, I can tell you. It does walk a nice line between pace-quickening sexual exploits while not burrowing into the specifics of something like The Sexual Life of Catherine M.
It was racy enough for London, in fact, that the rooting out of its author became a tabloid frenzy with speculation about the mystery housewife’s identity ranging from political scandal to the idea that the author was a man. It became something of a non-event when the low-profile Australian author Nikki Gemmell was finally revealed as Anonymous.
There is also some racy description here as the anonymous bride joyfully experiences the intricacies of hush-hush coupling and anybody who is looking for it will find all the ins and outs about who put what where. There are plenty of flushed cheeks here on the Tube, I can tell you. It does walk a nice line between pace-quickening sexual exploits while not burrowing into the specifics of something like The Sexual Life of Catherine M.
It was racy enough for London, in fact, that the rooting out of its author became a tabloid frenzy with speculation about the mystery housewife’s identity ranging from political scandal to the idea that the author was a man. It became something of a non-event when the low-profile Australian author Nikki Gemmell was finally revealed as Anonymous.
The last third does get a bit sticky, so to speak, as desperation turns into somewhat frenzied grasping at straws. Is she looking for an emotional rescue or only a way to drown? It’s hard to remain sympathetic towards Gemmell’s heroine as she jumps into three-ways with cabbies and then seemingly ‘saving’ herself by bearing a child with her husband.
Luckily, the work has survived the outing of its author because The Bride Stripped Bare is far deeper than it has been made out to be. It will be interesting to see if Gemmell, who has promised a sequel, can maintain the emotional minefield she has built here. It strongly recalls Josephine Hart’s Damage, in which a member of the British Parliament has a devastating affair with his son’s lover. Hart’s woman says that damaged people are dangerous because they know they will survive. The verdict is still out on the good bride.
Luckily, the work has survived the outing of its author because The Bride Stripped Bare is far deeper than it has been made out to be. It will be interesting to see if Gemmell, who has promised a sequel, can maintain the emotional minefield she has built here. It strongly recalls Josephine Hart’s Damage, in which a member of the British Parliament has a devastating affair with his son’s lover. Hart’s woman says that damaged people are dangerous because they know they will survive. The verdict is still out on the good bride.
