Nikki Gemmell’s unmasking as the 'anonymous' author of The Bride Stripped Bare sparked tremendous media interest in the book, which went on to become an international bestseller. Reviewers have hailed the freshness and power of her writing.
Praise for ‘The Bride Stripped Bare’: 'Starkly explicit…richly descriptive with a fast-paced narrative' Sunday Telegraph 'Nikki Gemmel's prose has a wonderful sensuousness…witty…a subtle portrait of a modern and rather alienating marriage' Lisa Appignanesi, Independent Magazine 'Must read…A tale of sexual awakening for the dark horse in all of us' Tatler ‘The sex is well-written…Gemmell is refreshingly straightforward about the act' Melanie McGrath, Evening Standard 'Easy to read, hard to put down. Keep an extinguisher handy' Closer 'A page-turner' Evening Standard 'A bored housewife embarks on a life of sexual pleasure…The sex is rude and raunchy and "exactly where you want it"' Elle 'Personal dilemmas are bravely explored; thoughts and fantasies about sex and infidelity, which most women have learned to keep to themselves, are laid bare on the page in all their shocking glory…brutal, brilliant and addictive' Glasgow Herald
Best-known for 2003's The Bride Stripped Bare (originally published anonymously), Gemmell revisits a woman's sexual awakening in her tender though occasionally overwrought latest. The novel follows an unnamed, middle-aged, Australian wife and mother of three living in England, whose loving but sexless marriage drives her to reflect on her passionate affair with an older man when she was a teenager. Compellingly written in the second person, the book comprises the protagonist's own writings to herself as she struggles to make sense of the past. Aided in her reminiscences by a progressive Victorian book for women-given to her and annotated by her lover, Tol, years ago-the narrator recounts their first chance meeting, when, as a teen desperate to escape her icy stepmother, she discovers a run-down manse wherein Tol is busy renovating and writing. Despite his protestations that she stay away, the young narrator persists, and soon a romance blossoms. But suddenly-after declaring his love-Tol disappears, and she's been wondering what happened ever since. Though Gemmell's beautiful prose sometimes lapses into melodrama, her gift for storytelling makes this a rewarding read. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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