Exit to Eden - Anne Rice

Author's product rating:   

Would you read it again?	No, never
Story	Very ordinary
Characters	Satisfactory
Readability	Poor
How does it compare to other works by the same author?	Poor

Advantages:	Exciting to start with, insightful in places, easy to read
Disadvantages:	Drawn out, predictable, below standard for this author

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Exit to Eden (ignore the mis-spelt product title courtesy of Ciao) was originally a 1985 release by Anne Rice under the name Anne Rampling following her huge early eighties success with the "Sleeping Beauty" trilogy (under the name A N Roquelaure).

Rice hasn't gone to the great lengths fans of her other work (Vampire Chronicles, Mayfair Witches) will have come to expect from her. There's no great research been done to fuel this book and the plot line is entirely predictable throughout. I'd go as far as to say that this book is quite simply "The Release of Sleeping Beauty" set in a different reality. The fact the two books were first published in the same year but under different pen names just goes to reinforce my belief.

Exit to Eden takes us through the world of sadomasochism through the eyes of both parties; the master and the slave. Lisa Kelly is the beautiful "Perfectionist" who has slaves falling at her feet to be tied up and punished by her and Elliot Slater is the independantly wealthy and dashing young man so desperate to be punished by just such a person that he signs over his life to be a slave at "The Club" for two years in return for a large sum of money. They first meet when Lisa, co-founder of "The Club", has first pick of the new slaves coming onto the island and she opts for Elliot. There's a tiny amount of controversy surrounding this meeting but nothing that I found particularly engrossing. To be honest, the plot line was so reminiscent of "Sleeping Beauty" that I was just waiting for the erotic bits to start.

My patience was finally rewarded and there were a few gripping sex scenes involved in the early chapters although I have to say that there were only about three in total. I guess there were other sections of the book that might easily be construed as erotic if you're a fan of S&M but I'm afraid that for all my hormonal rages whilst dwelling here in singledom I just don't see the appeal in being tied to a post and whipped till my back bleeds in front of some two hundred spectators. But if you find that kind of thing erotic, maybe you'll get something more out of this book than I did.

The narrative style Rice has chosen to tell her story has to be given praise if nothing else. Despite the weak plot and the re-modelled characters; she engages her usual highly commendable and instantly recognisable style of writing at least. On this particular occasion, Rice has chosen to write the book in two first-hand narratives; both as Lisa and as Elliot, changing between the two characters as the story progresses. What has to be admired here is the way in which she switches between her characters with stealth and great ease. Whilst the name of the person narrating the chapter you're about to read is written below the chapter number at the start of each; if you skim over it you won't be left wondering who's eyes you're seeing the story through for more than a sentence or two. Both Lisa and Elliot are similar characters but that doesn't stop Rice from attributing tiny characteristics to both that define who's who at any given point in the book. Whilst some readers may struggle with some of her more indepth and intricate works, like "The Vampire Lestat", there's no room for confusion here. The most positive thing I can say about this novel is that it's easy to read and accessible to all which may well have been Rice's intention when she wrote it.

As far as the story between Lisa and Elliot goes; I'm confident that like me you'll have this all figured out by the end of chapter fifteen at the latest. Somewhat disappointing seeing as how there are thirty-three chapters. So basically I spent eighteen chapters hurrying through, skimming pages here and there, desperately hoping that I was somehow wrong and that Rice would throw in one of her double bluffs or additional twists. I can see that the final chapter is her attempt at a final twist to the tale but to be honest, it was nothing shocking for me to read. Normally I wouldn't ruin a review of a book or a film by giving away the ending and I won't give everything away here either; but it's damn hard considering how little there is to give away.

I guess that with Rice it's rarely about where the journey takes you but how the journey makes you feel and that's a concept that's apparant in almost every book she's ever written. There's always the possibility that this novel is designed to draw you into the S&M world and see these perverted creatures for the human beings not disimilar to ourselves that they are. And to an extent, she manages this portrayal through her choices of intellectual characters and their many discussions on how they view their own sexual tendancies. I'm a regular young lady with no extraordinary sexual tendancies and not a hint of perversion about me but reading this book I accepted sadomasochism as a normal sexual tendancy rather than as a disturbing perversion. Perhaps there is something to be said for that.

All in all this is chick lit gone horny. I came to no profound realisations or revelations on closing the book; I just felt disappointed in my favourite author. This is an entirely forgetable tale of two people falling in love who just happen to enjoy being humiliated and humiliating others to gain sexual gratification. So what? Perhaps it's important to note at this point that some twenty years ago people weren't as open and liberated as we are today and that this novel may easily have had a far greater impact at the time it was released. In 1985 there were still large numbers of the population who though Boy George should burn in hell whereas these days we feel seem to find it acceptable for grown men to don a leotard and shake their bits and pieces at unsuspecting audience members (that's directed at you Justin Hawkins of The Darkness).

In conclusion I'm inclined to suggest that the problem with this novel is that it lacks the shock factor on which it was initially marketed. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone because it has little to offer you that you can't find ten times better elsewhere and I can't say it'll particularly entertain you either. That said, if you've never embarked on an erotic literary journey and have secretly always wanted to take the plunge; I guess this isn't such a bad place to start.