As Francesca

by Martha Baer

Elaine, ambitious and hardworking, plays by the rules at the office so well that she's on the brink of an impressive promotion. But in the cyberspace world she visits every night as "Francesca," her daytime self disappears. On-line, her cool mastery gives way to abject obedience as the mysterious "Inez" seduces her into demeaning--and irresistible--sexual adventures. When a careless mistake destroys the barrier between virtual reality and her corporate life, Elaine perceives a disturbing connection between her nightly degradation and her professional success. As she becomes obsessed with finding her real-life paramour, her speculations about Inez's true identity quickly run wild, and soon all of her once-innocent encounters with friends and colleagues are charged with sexual overtones.

In a darkly comic, highly erotic tale for our time, Martha Baer captures the allure of anonymous cybersex and the elusiveness of gender identity in a world where the real and the virtually real become almost indistinguishable.

Genres: Fiction, Erotica, BDSM, Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hot and steamy for about 1/10th of the book, otherwise could be quite dull. I found myself really liking it about halfway through and then just got more and more frustrated and disappointed as it went on. The main character was so unlikeable. There was sex, but it was never descriptive enough. I'm not entirely sure I'd place this book in the erotica section. It was sexual, of course, but it wasn't like I ever felt the need to cover what I was reading or else I'd be considered delinquent.

2 stars - it was OK.

[Xanthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost didn't read this book. I was up to about page 40 when I decided to keep reading. I had told myself that if it didn't improve by page 50, I would stop. But it did improve, though not by much. My initial problem with the book was the feeling that it was going to be pages and pages of online S&M erotica, which I found rather ho hum. But then the intrigue started and there was less of that and more of the main character's 'real' world as she tried to work out who her online mistress was. It was wanting to find the answer to that question that made me finish the book, but overall, this wasn't as good of a book as the quotes and blurb on the back cover make it out to be. I am just glad it wasn't an overly lengthy book.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elaine is a young woman who works during the day in an office in the budgeting division during the day who has ambitions to advance in her company. At night she enters a world of S & M chat rooms (remember these were big in the 1990's when this book was written) where she meets a dominant woman and becomes obsessed with her. As she gets more submissive at night, she excels at work. When the woman suddenly abandons her in the chat rooms, her obsession drives her to distraction at work, ruining her career at the agency. Written in an okay manner, I found the protagonist difficult to relate to and just wanted to slap her and get her to wake up.

[grundoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, let's see... as erotica, does it pass Dorothy Allison's "wet test"? Dunno, maybe?, for some? And it's not a huge part of the page count. The rest is a bit of a minor intrigue, though mostly about power dynamics and balance. Except, as reasonably skilled as the writing is, what I ultimately found was a just-barely-compelling-enough-to-continue story involving a frustratingly dysfunctional woman. And then they all lived happily ever after. The end.

[Lizzy DeMarco · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely mark a book "didn't like", yet this book left me feeling nothig except I wanted to put it down. Maybe it was the subject matter, maybe the writing, not sure what it was, but really disliked this one.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

I paid 20 cents for this book at a library used book sale. I paid too much. I skip read hoping it would get better but it didn't. Even the porn was poorly done. It is one of those tortuous laments, feel y books where the lead character is full of self." How can I live?" "Woe is me!". Ick!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

creepy dark twist.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I received as part of my BOMC introductory set years ago... an internet sexual relationship goes awry and creates for some stimulating intrigue. A very engaging and quick read.

[Dana Torrente · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda....weird? This pretty much read like a porno...a very predictable porno. There were aspects of it that I liked but overall it was more on the lame side. Good thing I only payed $1 for it.

[Anna Lenè · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book, ended up stopping about 100 pages in. I thought the premise of how a woman's sex life would affect her day to day life would be interesting, and the fact that it was a seemingly lesbian story piqued my interest even more. But Jesus this book was bland. The "erotic" bits were cringey as hell. And for a book about lesbians, there sure was a lot of dick involved. Maybe I'm wrong to assume that Inez is supposed to be a woman. Maybe she turns out to be a dude in the end I dunno. But still, there was too much penis. Reading about the main characters day to day life was equally as boring. Her personality is so one dimensional I couldn't care less about her. Overall, a very it's a very forgettable book.

[K LF · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intregue and exploration of identity was what stood out in my mind about this story. An exploration of a different life at night, in the shadows, one that was not shared with friends and colleagues in the light of day. I identified with the young career woman in the city. The mystery plot line drew me forward and I also enjoyed that this story brought readers into the online world - something new and exciting for us in the late 90's...

[Natasha Alvandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baer does a good job of transmitting Elaine’s mood to the reader. The novel isn’t particularly fast-paced, but Elaine is pensive, shy, and thoughtful.

[Lex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Screenager.