Fifty Shades Number 1
by E.L. James
From Goodreads
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family — Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

This book is intended for mature audiences.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

As erotica you might give it a few more stars but as fiction, it is not a great narrative. Now if D. H. Lawrence had been a woman and had lived in our permissive world then I suspect Lady Chatterley would have been a real fifty shades (of red)! I was more bored than exhausted with this story but it clearly has struck a chord in a large segment of the market. It seems that erotica is moving into the mainstream now so we can expect thousands of these intimate romances to move from the Mills and Boon genre into leading best sellers. It will pass but it will be interesting to watch its cycle. I can’t see myself seeking out the next two or three volumes.