There is a small moment in EL James’s new novel The Mister that embodies her unique ability for libido-shrinking creepiness. After learning Alessia was trafficked, Trevelyan thinks, “I still want her and don’t my blue balls know it.” Nor has James lost her retrograde approach to gender and sex. Just as James writes sex like a 14-year-old who thinks they know how it is done (“‘Kiss me,’ she growls, her voice low and demanding. All that is backwards in The Mister is neither a surprise nor even James’s fault; after all, we’ve been encouraging her. But that a book like The Mister will still end up on the bestseller chart next week begets so many questions.

Source: The Guardian April 17, 2019 15:21 UTC