Fair warning, fair reader: "The Red" Tiffany Reisz's latest book is straight up erotica. That being said it is some of the most well written erotica currently published. Not only in the titillating, push your buttons, one handed read sense but in a literary, lyrical, creative sense. This book is going to make my best of list for 2017 guaranteed. It pushes all of my button. An exploration of deathbed promises and, maybe, even a little bit of grief, the story takes art and sex and debauchery creates some of the most inventive mesmerizing erotica I've come across in ages. Tiffany Reisz is the Mistress of the filthy and taboo. You don't need to know a lot about art to truly enjoy the way this book is set up, so don't let that scare you off.
Mona is a gallery owner saddled with the burden of a deathbed promise to her mother. The titular "Red" is the gallery her mother devoted her life to and that Mona grew up in. Since her mother's death, The Red has floundered financially and Mona is on the brink of losing her mother's beloved gallery. That is, until late one night Malcolm appears at closing time with an offer. That offer is an utterly debauched trip through the looking glass. Is it ghosts? Is it a fever dream? Or is all of this really happening?
Mona and the reader can never be sure. The deal consists of one night every month or so with Malcolm for a year. During that time he will have his way with Mona. And after every night Mona receives a valuable piece of artwork that helps her dig her way out of financial ruin. It's not a love story. Or is it? What starts out as a deal with the devil, perhaps, turns into Mona coming to terms with her own sexuality and falling in love, just a little bit, with mysterious Englishmen who showed up at her door one night.
Mr. Reisz structures Mona and Malcolm's story into several vignettes, very, very kinky vignettes, based on various artistic masterworks. It's brilliant and unlike anything I've read before. Sexuality has always inspired art but when Ms. Reisz turned the tables and uses art to inspire sexuality you're in for a wild, debased ride. It is hot and boundary pushing and absolutely filthy in spots. I can't possibly articulate all of the reasons I love this story and, if I tried, I would ruin the journey. I'll stick with the top four.
This story is courageous. Ms. Reisz threw caution to the wind and wrote from her heart - marketing be damned.
This story is the ultimate fantasy because it defies description. It has a spooky supernatural vibe, without being anything close to "paranormal romance". When you add in Mona's internal monologue, it becomes a beautiful psychological journey of a woman finding her true self - emotionally and sexually.
Ms. Reisz' turn of a phrase is so artful, I couldn't be sure whether Malcolm was a kinky stranger, a hallucination, fever dream or the devil himself. It's tough to keep a reader guessing and engaged the way "The Red" did.
The use of art as the inspiration and framework for each of Mona and Malcolm's encounters was provocative and inspiring. It gave depth and texture to the story and took it beyond the realm of gratuitous, raunchy erotica and made it so much more.
It's sexy and mysterious; nasty and hot. The Red is a kind of book that creeps into your dreams and, occasionally, your waking moments. I can guarantee you'll never walk through museum and look at the art on the wall the same way. If you're open-minded and love a great, sexy, thought-provoking read, pick this up immediately. An ARC was provide for an honest review

#TopReadof2017
#SendBourbonandBatteries

There is a playful genius at work in this fanciful tale by Tiffany Reisz. I was delighted by this mysterious story that danced among famous works of art through the centuries. It is a wonderfully bawdy tale of the uninhibited delights of a virile and sex loving man who has a specific purpose in mind.

Mona, the owner of the art gallery, "The Red" finds herself in danger of losing her gallery because she is so far into, well the red, she cannot see her way clear. Her mother's one admonition was to save "The Red" at all costs. As she is reaching the nadir of her despair, a mysterious stranger propositions her. He gains her confidence and proposes a deal wherein he wishes to eschew all romance, the trappings of which and/or all considerations of love and simply pays her in art for the pleasure of carte blanche over her body.

What the reader is treated to is a group of fantastic tableaus for erotic, very near pornographic detailing of the monthly assignations of Mona and Malcolm based on select works of art. The reader can be readily tempted to lose themselves in the unfolding erotic scenes as told through the POV of Mona, the gallery owner. The writing is gorgeous and far superior to your typical pornographic read. Resisting the temptation to get lost in the sensuous words, I believe I may have detected some things Ms. Reisz was trying to say both along the lines of the story's plot and about sexuality in general in the choice of the works of art selected by Malcolm to set the stage for their erotic encounters.

I believe I could deconstruct this novel and write for days about the themes and meanings behind the selected art and this imaginative story. Ms Reisz gives us a few hints herself along the way. So I must acknowledge her mastery over art interpretation and the cultural significance of art as it relates to society's evolving understanding of sexuality and most especially the role of female sexuality. So many ideas sparked by this read, which on its surface seems only a chimeric and entertaining read.

Of course, therein lies the beauty of art (and literature). A work that looks deceptively simple can say so much to the viewer, to the reader.

One case in point is the "value" of female sexuality in our society. I love the comment by Malcolm that..."Whores are the only women who know their own worth." Quite the spin on women knowing the value in their sexuality...to nurture, to heal, to delight and most of all to bring forth new life.

Not all in society share in Malcolm's enthusiasm for "whores". Therein lies the mystery, the story in this book and some of the meaning behind the chosen works of art. I mean it the most complimentary way without a shred of disrespect, that in the finalty, this is a story about one woman transformed into a magnificent whore.

I greatly enjoyed The Red. It reminded me of the Sleeping Beauty trilogy by Ann Rice. It is a fairy tale style telling of a Mona, who made a deathbed promise to her mother and had no way to keep it until Malcolm made her an intriguing offer. If she submitted to him for a year, he would save her mother's gallery.

Mona accepted, flattered and intrigued that someone would pay her a million dollars to have sex with her for a year. Her sexual appetite along with an increased kink factor grew rapacious under Malcolm's tutelage. His unique demands that they re-enact the erotic scenes in famous paintings was a great idea to tell the story. I had a hard time putting the book down only to return later. Forget about it.