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Slave
Slave is a nonreligious take on Eve's seduction set in modern-day dystopian London.
Eve has no memory of who she once was. She's doing her best to get on with her mundane life, just trying to hold her head above water. But the snake of her previous seduction has tracked her down.
His name is 'Slave'.
He wants Eve to come back to him and is willing to move mountains to make it happen. The city doesn't know what's about to hit it...
"... some may dismiss this as religious fiction, but after reading it I wouldn't throw it into that category at all... At times, I couldn't believe what I was reading and had to stop and go back and read it again... Its a fine rant..." ~ Shannon L. Yarbrough, reviewer for the LL Book Review.
There's no-one significant in Eve's life and she's so desperately lonely it feels like there's some vast hole inside her. Poor little Eve. Many eyes are on her, she's in so much trouble and she doesn't have a clue.
Slave is a roller coaster, a different kind of literary romp that will have you holding your breath, peering out from behind your fingers, despairing, uplifted and laughing.
Described as " something new", "fresh and original", "writing that is a pleasure", "pacey, exciting and ultimately heart-warming read", "Beyond Words", "top 5 favorite books", "sexy", "a world of art", "a masterpiece". Find out why...
Adult story lines and language, fictional deities and religious myth are used allegorically to explore the deeper themes of love and need that lurk under the surface of this smart, funny page-turner.
Eve has no memory of who she once was. She's doing her best to get on with her mundane life, just trying to hold her head above water. But the snake of her previous seduction has tracked her down.
His name is 'Slave'.
He wants Eve to come back to him and is willing to move mountains to make it happen. The city doesn't know what's about to hit it...
"... some may dismiss this as religious fiction, but after reading it I wouldn't throw it into that category at all... At times, I couldn't believe what I was reading and had to stop and go back and read it again... Its a fine rant..." ~ Shannon L. Yarbrough, reviewer for the LL Book Review.
There's no-one significant in Eve's life and she's so desperately lonely it feels like there's some vast hole inside her. Poor little Eve. Many eyes are on her, she's in so much trouble and she doesn't have a clue.
Slave is a roller coaster, a different kind of literary romp that will have you holding your breath, peering out from behind your fingers, despairing, uplifted and laughing.
Described as " something new", "fresh and original", "writing that is a pleasure", "pacey, exciting and ultimately heart-warming read", "Beyond Words", "top 5 favorite books", "sexy", "a world of art", "a masterpiece". Find out why...
Adult story lines and language, fictional deities and religious myth are used allegorically to explore the deeper themes of love and need that lurk under the surface of this smart, funny page-turner.
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 23, 2010
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 3, 2011
What if God and Satan were still fighting over the very first soul to sin? That is the premise of Slave, V.S. Williams’s first novel. Ms. Williams’s central character, Eve, is a mostly friendless orphan who has only her cat for company. For the most part, this befuddled young woman is the still point at the center of the novel – the eye of the hurricane. Swirling about Eve are some well-drawn and unique characters, including a surprisingly large number of unhappy spouses.
Ms. Williams has a gift for phrasing that left me in awe and laughter on several occasions. At one point, a desperate, childless woman on the verge of divorce imagines her future:
“The coffee mornings would dry up, she'd be thrown out of the W.I. and so, ladies and gentlemen, there would end the briefest of sorties into an accepting society; by next month she expected to have rejoined the outcasts: criminals, prostitutes and single childless women with an eye on middle age.”
Later, another unhappy wife sums up life this way: “But life was like that, it was rubbish piled up next to palaces, orchids growing on dung heaps.”
Despite the large cast, Ms. Williams did a wonderful job of fleshing out her characters. Overall, the only character I didn’t care for was Eve. She was so oblivious to the surrounding world that I found it difficult to empathize with her or care very much about her fate. I was much more interested in the destinies of those surrounding her; in fact, I was heartbroken for one particular father and his daughter.
There are enough errors in the book – mostly punctuation and extra or missed words – that I believe a good copy editor is in order. However, these errors didn’t significantly impact my reading enjoyment.
This is a commendable first novel, given its topic and scope. I believe Ms. Williams has just begun to show us what she can do, and I can hardly wait to see her future work.
**UPDATE 6/3/11** I have been in touch with the author and provided her with my list of concerns, some of which, according to the author, are differences between American and British English -- something I certainly can understand. The others are being corrected and a new version will be uploaded soon, thus making future readers that much more impressed with her work.
Ms. Williams has a gift for phrasing that left me in awe and laughter on several occasions. At one point, a desperate, childless woman on the verge of divorce imagines her future:
“The coffee mornings would dry up, she'd be thrown out of the W.I. and so, ladies and gentlemen, there would end the briefest of sorties into an accepting society; by next month she expected to have rejoined the outcasts: criminals, prostitutes and single childless women with an eye on middle age.”
Later, another unhappy wife sums up life this way: “But life was like that, it was rubbish piled up next to palaces, orchids growing on dung heaps.”
Despite the large cast, Ms. Williams did a wonderful job of fleshing out her characters. Overall, the only character I didn’t care for was Eve. She was so oblivious to the surrounding world that I found it difficult to empathize with her or care very much about her fate. I was much more interested in the destinies of those surrounding her; in fact, I was heartbroken for one particular father and his daughter.
There are enough errors in the book – mostly punctuation and extra or missed words – that I believe a good copy editor is in order. However, these errors didn’t significantly impact my reading enjoyment.
This is a commendable first novel, given its topic and scope. I believe Ms. Williams has just begun to show us what she can do, and I can hardly wait to see her future work.
**UPDATE 6/3/11** I have been in touch with the author and provided her with my list of concerns, some of which, according to the author, are differences between American and British English -- something I certainly can understand. The others are being corrected and a new version will be uploaded soon, thus making future readers that much more impressed with her work.
May 9, 2011
Often I read books and wonder, "WHY IN THE WORLD WAS THIS BOOK EVEN PUBLISHED"?
Now I have read "Slave" and wondered, "WHY ISN'T THIS BOOK PUBLISHED FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO ACCESS?"
After the FALL, Eve has been reincarnated into 2003 London where she lives a mundane unfulfilling life working with a marketing company for a boss that smells putrid. Eve also works with a friend who has secrets that empower her to be crusader for others and a busy body in Eve’s world.
A scraggy cat adopts Eve at the same time as a brutally handsome man comes into her life and then Eve's life takes on a roller coaster life of its own.
My heart and soul absorbed this book as I read it--forget laundry, cooking, work--it was all about Eve for a few days. How did this happen? The author, VS Williams, weaves an intricate story with assorted threads. The author uses dialogues and notes from those observing Eve mixed with incredible narrative and description. What fun my brain had with the way this book is written! The interweaving of story lines from conversations between God and the devil to pirate adventures compiled with the author’s description sense that nailed personalities and people to a tee!!
The character growth and change in this book is dynamic and honestly I think every character in this book goes through several metamorphoses.
When I used the title "Beyond Words" for my review, I meant it--I don't have the word skill that is needed to give this incredible work the accolades it deserves.
I love to consider themes when writing reviews and this book is full of them: redemption, good versus evil, religion, the dark side of life, types of love, mail order brides, work, God and the underlying mystery of Eve.
So my recommendation: I would definitely put this book in my list of my 5 favorite books.
Now I have read "Slave" and wondered, "WHY ISN'T THIS BOOK PUBLISHED FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO ACCESS?"
After the FALL, Eve has been reincarnated into 2003 London where she lives a mundane unfulfilling life working with a marketing company for a boss that smells putrid. Eve also works with a friend who has secrets that empower her to be crusader for others and a busy body in Eve’s world.
A scraggy cat adopts Eve at the same time as a brutally handsome man comes into her life and then Eve's life takes on a roller coaster life of its own.
My heart and soul absorbed this book as I read it--forget laundry, cooking, work--it was all about Eve for a few days. How did this happen? The author, VS Williams, weaves an intricate story with assorted threads. The author uses dialogues and notes from those observing Eve mixed with incredible narrative and description. What fun my brain had with the way this book is written! The interweaving of story lines from conversations between God and the devil to pirate adventures compiled with the author’s description sense that nailed personalities and people to a tee!!
The character growth and change in this book is dynamic and honestly I think every character in this book goes through several metamorphoses.
When I used the title "Beyond Words" for my review, I meant it--I don't have the word skill that is needed to give this incredible work the accolades it deserves.
I love to consider themes when writing reviews and this book is full of them: redemption, good versus evil, religion, the dark side of life, types of love, mail order brides, work, God and the underlying mystery of Eve.
So my recommendation: I would definitely put this book in my list of my 5 favorite books.
April 10, 2011
Oh, I got totally enchanted by this novel! It's not only a well written good and evil battle or a love and hate fantasy, but an awesome journey from the realistic world to a disturbing dreaming/nightmare tale.
Slave invites us to follow Eve's everyday life, in the real London, 2003. Eve (yes, she is exactly the modern personification of the one you are thinking about!) is just a simple girl, whose brilliance is veiled in a dreadful society. Her life is just a flow of weird people, strange places and narrow and empty men. Rufus, her mysterious cat, seems to be the only being on Earth who is capable to understand her. In this strange world, Eve is always in search of her true self and some joy, but happiness seems something she will have to fight for. Besides that, she must met her 'missing half' to live a complete and perfect existence, but of course she hasn't realized that, till her life being in danger. On the other hand, her half cannot just appear and present himself. Eve must make a choice and what she chooses can really change her life forever.
Here, VS Williams creates a world of art for us. This novel is a 'one seat reading', because it involves us in to a stream of situations and emotions we cannot put aside. We catch ourselves loving the different, weird characters, and hating them with the same intensity. The marvelous self-centered society is a place that seems dystopian, but we suddenly find out that it is truly and pure reality. All those feelings, all those dichotomies and paradigmatic universes, drive us through an exciting novel, a must-read literature and a will for a bit more.
Congratulations, dear VS Williams! Slave is a masterpiece!
Slave invites us to follow Eve's everyday life, in the real London, 2003. Eve (yes, she is exactly the modern personification of the one you are thinking about!) is just a simple girl, whose brilliance is veiled in a dreadful society. Her life is just a flow of weird people, strange places and narrow and empty men. Rufus, her mysterious cat, seems to be the only being on Earth who is capable to understand her. In this strange world, Eve is always in search of her true self and some joy, but happiness seems something she will have to fight for. Besides that, she must met her 'missing half' to live a complete and perfect existence, but of course she hasn't realized that, till her life being in danger. On the other hand, her half cannot just appear and present himself. Eve must make a choice and what she chooses can really change her life forever.
Here, VS Williams creates a world of art for us. This novel is a 'one seat reading', because it involves us in to a stream of situations and emotions we cannot put aside. We catch ourselves loving the different, weird characters, and hating them with the same intensity. The marvelous self-centered society is a place that seems dystopian, but we suddenly find out that it is truly and pure reality. All those feelings, all those dichotomies and paradigmatic universes, drive us through an exciting novel, a must-read literature and a will for a bit more.
Congratulations, dear VS Williams! Slave is a masterpiece!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews