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Bitter Love
The man she loved was abnormal!
Anton sat down on her bed. He ran one finger down the soft skin of her arm and slid his hand down the neck of her nightgown.
His wife jerked away. "Don't you think you'd better go?" she said bitterly. "You mustn't keep Hugo waiting, you know."
Anton raised himself on one elbow, "I don't understand."
Her lips twisted back from her teeth. "Don't play the fool with me, Anton. I know why I was bought - married, if you prefer that word. I know where you were last night. Run along, dear; mustn't keep your lord and master waiting." She stood up in bed and glared at him.
"Or are we sharing you tonight?"
Anton sat down on her bed. He ran one finger down the soft skin of her arm and slid his hand down the neck of her nightgown.
His wife jerked away. "Don't you think you'd better go?" she said bitterly. "You mustn't keep Hugo waiting, you know."
Anton raised himself on one elbow, "I don't understand."
Her lips twisted back from her teeth. "Don't play the fool with me, Anton. I know why I was bought - married, if you prefer that word. I know where you were last night. Run along, dear; mustn't keep your lord and master waiting." She stood up in bed and glared at him.
"Or are we sharing you tonight?"
Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 5, 2015
This book is full of pulpy goodness!
This is why I still read pulp books, for amazing stories like this one. The woman of the story probably seemed normal in 1952 when the book was written but now she is borderline schizophrenic. I love him! I hate him! The agony! The ecstasy! Her feeling change on each page, if not each paragraph.
The woman, Alex, is roped into being a beard for two gay men living in Egypt. She decides she loves one of the men, no she hates him, no she can't live without him, and the story goes from there.
Along the way there's brilliant glimpses into the past, like when she gets pregnant the heroine gets taken away to a doctor in Zurich, I assumed for an abortion. But no, she just can't be seen in her own house while pregnant! It's unseemly! So she sits there for nine months! Crazy!
I had never heard tight refer to being drunk before I read this book, as in "She was a little tight."
Also the phrase "Ni**er in the woodpile" was used and I had to get an older friend to explain it.
Still there's always some timeless ideas that still ring true, such as:
"But her pride! How could she go grovelling to a man? And everything she had said to him was true. But that's what made it so much worse. Pride was a cold bed-fellow."
Toward the end I was wondering who was going to die in classic pulp style and I ended up racing through the last part of the book to find out. They don't tell you until the last page!
While I was reading I pictured the cast of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" as the characters, with the female, Alex, being Elizabeth Taylor, the gorgeous Anton being Paul Newman and the older other man Hugo as Big Daddy, Burl Ives. Not a perfect comparison as then Newman is sleeping with his father, but it's what I used.
This is why I still read pulp books, for amazing stories like this one. The woman of the story probably seemed normal in 1952 when the book was written but now she is borderline schizophrenic. I love him! I hate him! The agony! The ecstasy! Her feeling change on each page, if not each paragraph.
The woman, Alex, is roped into being a beard for two gay men living in Egypt. She decides she loves one of the men, no she hates him, no she can't live without him, and the story goes from there.
Along the way there's brilliant glimpses into the past, like when she gets pregnant the heroine gets taken away to a doctor in Zurich, I assumed for an abortion. But no, she just can't be seen in her own house while pregnant! It's unseemly! So she sits there for nine months! Crazy!
I had never heard tight refer to being drunk before I read this book, as in "She was a little tight."
Also the phrase "Ni**er in the woodpile" was used and I had to get an older friend to explain it.
Still there's always some timeless ideas that still ring true, such as:
"But her pride! How could she go grovelling to a man? And everything she had said to him was true. But that's what made it so much worse. Pride was a cold bed-fellow."
Toward the end I was wondering who was going to die in classic pulp style and I ended up racing through the last part of the book to find out. They don't tell you until the last page!
While I was reading I pictured the cast of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" as the characters, with the female, Alex, being Elizabeth Taylor, the gorgeous Anton being Paul Newman and the older other man Hugo as Big Daddy, Burl Ives. Not a perfect comparison as then Newman is sleeping with his father, but it's what I used.
Displaying 1 of 1 review