Handcuffs and radiator

Alexandra Lapierre

Paris, Nuit noire,

Saturday, May 7th 2011,

Drown The Drain – Lilly Wood and The Prick ♫

From the title alone, the book already smacks of wrist contortion, touch and caress. It would seem that the handcuff + radiator pairing works brilliantly on our erotic imagination and its secrets, because let’s face it, we’ve all thought about it – in chorus. The photo of the red heels/needle on the front cover confirms the diagnosis: Alexandra Lapierre is going to talk to us, but very clearly, about sex.

We learn from the author that “after studying literature at the Sorbonne, (she) left for the United States on a scholarship. She was accepted as a director at the American Film Institute, then at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. There, she wrote her own screenplays and won several awards at short film festivals… She returned to Paris and resumed her research in French libraries on the rise of one of the twelve great courtesans of the Second Empire. Her first novel, La Lionne du boulevard… was a critical and popular success. From then on, Alexandra Lapierre never stopped writing. We also learn that she considers her latest text a bit special. Let’s take a closer look!

It’s the story of a correspondence between a Suzie Hernoux and a Valentine Mallet, in which we read (almost) only Suzie’s letters to her great friend. A phenomenon that almost makes us think that this Valentine Mallet may, all things considered, be a mere figment of the heroine’s imagination… Suzie, who describes herself as a beautiful blonde woman, French but exiled in Rome, who is unfortunately no longer in her twenties, shares with her friend the amorous “troubl-ions” of her life (the Englishman, her dinner meetings, the avoidance strategies she puts in place to avoid losing out, her cravings for delights-supplications, and of course – and this is the game – her level of frustration).

Cover My Face – Lilly Wood And The Prick ♫

Crédit photo : Photosight

“I had dinner with the Englishman, whom I hadn’t called or seen in three weeks…. But you can be proud of your girlfriend: I tamed my lust and sent him to bed on his own. Not without first warming his libido with the story of the handcuffs. He was so taken with the whole thing that he asked me a few personal questions. That’s the first time… I replied that when it came to sexuality, I had the most civilized tastes and the healthiest instincts. My eyes said the exact opposite, my tone suggested the worst, and my smile augured the best… Ignited by the mention of his cunning with others, and by the prospect of his debauchery with me, he led me in small steps towards our hotel. Perhaps to make up for lost appointments of the past few weeks. This time, he had chosen a sumptuous and very expensive hotel. We stopped for a second under the porch canopy. This was the moment I chose to announce that I was expecting a call from the United States on my landline. A call that would require me to return home alone… In the car, I congratulated myself on my courage. What a power over myself! You can’t imagine how much I want him, this man, you can’t imagine what it’s costing me to sacrifice one night with him… Let’s be strong: reverse the balance of power, victory is at that price. But suddenly, the after-effect of giving up, I shiver, I tremble, I chatter my teeth. Then came the fear… Had I gone too far?” (Letter 3, pages 31 to 35).

In her desire for a real relationship and her clumsy attempts to put it into shape, in her frantic manhunt that tells only of the desire to seduce and exist, and in her desire to keep over control of the male figures in her poor existence, all riddled with fears and terribly earthy self-defense systems, Suzie suddenly finds herself plunged into the center of a sensual and addictive hoax. And as the old saying goes, the joke’s on you…

Elisa Palmer

Handcuffs and radiator

Alexandra Lapierre

Editions Plon

April 2011

8€

Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)