Playing

by Melanie Abrams

Book Overview

Melanie Abrams's debut novel is a provocative tale about love, betrayal, and how one young woman's unconventional sexual reawakening uncovers the most guarded parts of her past. When Josie, an anthropology grad student, is unexpectedly offered a job as the nanny for six-year-old Tyler, she innocently accepts. Though Josie doesn't necessarily need the job, there's something about Tyler's single mom, Mary--her beauty, her confidence, her resemblance...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802170471
• ISBN13: 9780802170477
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Exploring Pain

I'll admit, it was the cover that drew me in first. So of course I had to take a closer look! The story is about a grad student, Josie, who gets involved with an older man, Devesh, who introduces her to BDSM. Josie gets thoroughly into it, but at the same time, finds that it brings some old issues from her childhood to the surface. Josie is also working as a nanny, and her relationships with the child and his mother are filled with tension, and that, too, ties into her childhood baggage. See, Josie has a trauma in her past, one that she's made herself not think about for years but that starts to rise to the surface when she has a child to care for, and when she begins to play with "punishment." I won't spoil what the trauma is, but I will say that it's haunting and that it's not what you might expect. Josie is a complicated character and I didn't always like her, but I always did want to see what would come next. Devesh is wicked hot, and I love the fact that the author has two different perspectives on kink represented in the book--Josie is using it to work through some emotional issues, and Devesh just loves it because it's fun. After reading the book, I saw an interview with the author where she mentions that she wrote Devesh that way on purpose. I think it's realistic to have both, because I know people who work through emotional issues with their play and others who play for fun's sake alone, and some people who do both depending on their mood at the time. The "play" scenes in the book are well-written and hot, if you like that sort of thing, but there's a whole lot of other stuff going on too. It's nice to see a story where people have naughty sex lives but also all sorts of real-world problems and full lives. I recommend it, with the caveat that it goes into some pretty upsetting emotional territory, especially where issues of childhood and violence are concerned.

Taps into the violence within all of us

A friend of mine saw this book and was intrigued by the cover and description, so I thought I'd pick up a copy too. The main character Josie is well-drawn: like many of us she is seeking to reconcile the demons of her past. The plot unfolds organically, and the prose is nimble and light on its feet. I plowed through this book in a day because I really wanted to know how things turned out for Josie. The story made me question the capacity for violence inside myself, inside of all of us. A good read. I look forward to the next book from this author.

Complex and Moving

"Playing" lives up to it's seductive cover, but it's more than just an erotically charged story. It's not like anything I've read, and it's full of surprises and startling, sometimes uncomfortable moments. The book isn't about sadomasochism because it's a sexy subject (though the book has plenty of sexy scenes) but because it illuminates the characters' inner lives. The author delves into the complex desires and needs of its characters, never settling for simple answers.

Brilliant, Daring, Dangerous, Fascinating!

This book is a fascinating look into the dark, sensual, brutal world of S & M. It truly is a physiological exploration of what drives a person to desire to be beaten. I found it touching, interesting, and very well written. I couldn't put the book down. Melanie Abrams is sure to make a splash and I highly recommend the book.

Brilliant, daring debut novel

Melanie Abrams' courageous, fast-paced novel offers an unflinching look at a woman coming to terms with her sexual desires and personal instincts. This book's readership extends far beyond those with a "dark bent." Anyone willing to reexamine the way our family legacies shape us will walk away from this novel with an expanded perspective on the forces behind our human instincts, and the many paths we take to mend our broken selves.