Review: If there's such a thing as literary erotica, this is it.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 21, 2013
My first comment about The Yearning is this...It's a shame a novel like this has to be categorized (largely so a bookseller knows where to plonk it on a shelf--cyber or real). It's a shame because there will be people who'll have their perception skewed as a result of a generic genre label and miss out on a wonderful reading experience.I loved everything about this story: the writing is evocative, the storyline compelling, the biblical references intriguing. The Yearning is a truly unique and superbly crafted novel and while the author leaves nothing to the imagination, she handles the most intimate scenes deftly, delivering a soft, flowing, sensual (and sensory) journey of a teenage girl's sexual awakening. I initially worried about the basic premise (blurb)--small town schoolgirl and older, unconventional male teacher in the free and easy seventies. I also thought I knew how the story would pan out. (Pretty predictable stuff this erotic fiction, you know?)Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! And all I can say (after scraping the egg off my face) is Wow! Wow! Wow!Wow to the clever, clever plot that, despite the small format paperback of only 300-odd pages, packs a punch in so many ways. Wow to the hauntingly beautiful prose and description that will transport you to a different time and place (and if you are my age, to a few fond memories of that fun-loving decade). Wow to the complex characters, the divine descriptions of small town life, and the delicious metaphors that bring this story to life. The Yearning is a fully dimensional read with great characterisations, beautiful prose, a proper narrative arc and a well-developed theme. The erotic elements are integral and necessary to the story--hence the label!So... not into erotic fiction? I didn't think I was either. Still not sure I am. I just know I loved The Yearning and I am so glad I took the genre plunge.If you don't want to be like me--a fuddy-duddy--and should you choose to see what all the fuss is about, this is the book--although I fear this novel may have ruined me for any other!