September 21, 2015
Though outrageous in plot and writing style, the second Pleasure Quartet novel (after Autumn) has a pronounced erotic effect. Giselle Denoux, a failed ballerina, models for her lover’s private commission of a painting of Joan of Arc’s capture and torture. As the young dancer lives out her private fantasy, she grows closer to the artist, William Trembley, who’s several years her senior, but he ends things when an accident blinds him. Organizers of the Ball, an almost mythical orgy for the senses that occurs periodically around the world, hire her to dance and then manage their private club in New Orleans. Over the years, she choreographs sexual dances, stages elaborate events, and tries to soothe her lustful, mournful yearning for William. In any other hands, the prose depicting Giselle’s longing would be excessively florid or vulgar, but somehow Jackson transforms it into beautiful, arousing writing. Agent: Sarah Such, Sarah Such Literary Agency.
September 1, 2015
A young ballerina realizes she won't make it professionally and, as she's finding a new purpose, meets a mesmerizing artist with whom she embarks on a journey of passionate self-discovery. After French ballet student Giselle loses her boyfriend and her place at her London ballet school, she returns to Paris aimless, takes a job at a flower shop, then becomes a model for an up-and-coming artist. William is sensual in ways Giselle has never experienced before, and the two quickly become lovers, sharing an explosive attraction and a surprising emotional connection. As the relationship intensifies, they share their deepest secrets and most intimate fantasies. William is connected to a mysterious network of sex clubs and decadent events that intrigue Giselle, and, encouraged by her lover, she delves into this shadowy world with him. In most ways, Giselle and William are perfectly matched and deeply connected, but when a long-standing tension causes an argument, a careless accident leads to tragic consequences, and Giselle's guilt sends her down another career track and into the sheltering employment of the enigmatic company William was tied to. Moving across the globe, Giselle settles into a satisfying professional life but an empty emotional existence and, after many years, decides to revisit her past, with surprising results. Jackson tells a vaguely interesting story that is at times sensual, at times sexually explicit, and at times compelling. But most of the time, it kind of meanders, with some lovely language, some good writing, and some beguiling elements but mostly a disengaged, disjointed narrative style that keeps us one more step removed from a story that already lacks structure and tension and wanders in too many directions without much discernible purpose. There's much better erotic romance out there.
COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
October 1, 2015
This second title in Jackson's "Pleasure Quartet" (after Autumn) sees 19-year-old Giselle Denoux struggling with her boyfriend, ballet school, and life as a French transplant in London. Tall, lean, and strong, Giselle has the drive but lacks the natural grace and talent of many of her classmates. This frustration bleeds into her love life, in which she finds pleasure but little passion in her lovemaking with young boyfriend Olen. When infidelity and broken dreams land her back in France, Giselle finds ardor beyond measure with gruff older painter William Tremblay. He takes her on a journey of sexual discovery, namely indulging in her darkest Joan of Arc fantasies and opening her world to erotic masquerade balls in which nothing is off-limits. However, jealousy and distraction lead to a horrible accident that rips the two apart for years. Giselle spends a lifetime exploring many lands and many lovers, only to find that anonymous sex can never replace the power of the one man on her mind. Accomplished writing team Jackson ("Eighty Days" series) returns with the familiar heady, sensual prose of Autumn, though Giselle's bildungsroman of reclaiming intensity, both in love and in movement, stands well on its own. The novel also serves as a love letter to numerous cities, painting seductive portraits of London, Paris, and New Orleans. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Jackson's previous works and for readers seeking powerful, introspective erotica anchored by a tinge of tragedy.
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.