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The Waiting Room

by Remittance Girl (Goodreads Author)

4.34 of 5 stars 4.34 · rating details · 47 ratings · 20 reviews

“…We are all animals, Sophie, all of us. We think we are so smart—masters of our destinies, yes? We lie to ourselves that we have control. But if it does not rain, we die of thirst. If it rains too much, we drown…”

Everyone needs to discover his or her own special place in the world, but Sophie has found it almost impossible. Late one night, in the tumbledown waiting room o...more

Kindle Edition, 122 pages

Published October 6th 2012 by Burning Book Press (first published February 2nd 2010)

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Dec 17, 2011 Wicked Incognito Now rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychological-erotica, own-ebook

I usually don't read novellas, I like to feel drawn in by a longer story and novellas usually feel lacking. However, this novella was just long enough. I was so absorbed in the reading that any longer would've been too much. This story is a psychological delving into the mind that is wholly realistic and gritty yet strangely pure and beautiful.

In every literary genre I read, I find that there is this huge block of popular books, within the genre, that I just can't relate to. Other readers of the...more I usually don't read novellas, I like to feel drawn in by a longer story and novellas usually feel lacking. However, this novella was just long enough. I was so absorbed in the reading that any longer would've been too much. This story is a psychological delving into the mind that is wholly realistic and gritty yet strangely pure and beautiful.

In every literary genre I read, I find that there is this huge block of popular books, within the genre, that I just can't relate to. Other readers of the genre LOVE these books, and I think they're crap. But eventually, within that genre, I find my groove. I find my favorite authors--popular or not so much. Once I find the authors I love, it is so much easier to find other authors I love. Well, this hasn't happened with erotica. I want to read erotica. I'm slightly twisted that way. But I don't want to read anymore of the utter nonsense I've encountered thus far. It's all so trite, unrealistic, and with a complete lack of professional development. It saddens me, because I know the type of erotica I want to read is out there.

Yesterday,I happened upon a listopia list at Amazon with Remittance Girl on it and now I've finally found the type of erotica I've been looking for.

Remittance Girl wrote on her profile:

As a writer, I feel very strongly that the erotica genre has suffered greatly over the years from a lack of quality, good editorship, and a dearth of publishers willing to put new material out there. It seems to have been appropriated by two literary camps: romantic fiction and pornography. These days most erotic fiction is either a romance novel with the spicy bits left in or, on the other side of the spectrum, stroke fiction with the solitary and express purpose of providing guided masturbatory fantasies.

This is sad, because I think erotic fiction, as a genre, should be neither and both those things, but it ought to be more, as well. I have no objection to representations of romantic entanglements in erotica, just as I have no objections to them in a sci-fi novel. Nor do I have any objections to a reader finding that a specific story arouses them to the point of wanting to masturbate. That’s also fine. But there are perfectly good genres where either of those reader desires are fulfilled specifically.

I believe that erotica, as a genre, should deal with the theme of erotic desire and, ideally, how desire informs, changes and manipulates the lives of the characters who are desirous. If erotic fiction can be this, then I think it has the potential to be an important cultural product, and should be proudly included in the literary cannon.

I completely agree with the author's point-of-view here. It's so difficult to slog through the mess of erotica available to find the good stuff. I just knew it existed though! Wish me luck in trying to dig out more good stuff from the pile (after I read Remittance Girl's entire backlist).(less)

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May 16, 2012 Brie C. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Originally posted at Romance Around the Corner

This review on Dear Author caught my attention. The subject was daunting to me, but I usually enjoy the books Janine recommends
so I decided to check out the author. That’s how I came across The Waiting Room.

The book opens with Sophie getting ready to spend the night in the waiting room of a Cambodian train station. She’s not alone, there’s a man there as well. She falls asleep but a noise of a zipper lowering awakens her, and when she opens her eyes...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Shesquiet Quiet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Without question, five stars for this psychological drama with an understory of D/s ... any plot details would be a spoiler, and I'm just not willing to do that to any of you, dear readers.

I was sucked in on the first page and did not put the book down - I read it straight through to the end. Not a HEA book, either - which made it feel so possibly real. I enjoyed Sophie's struggles - both internal and with Alex - the denouement was not entirely predictable - and there were no loose ends left at...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Alyssa Turner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Remittance Girl must be applauded for her talent in the art of transporting her readers out of their chairs and into the moment. The Waiting Room is a trip to Southeast Asia as vividly presented as the emotional conflict suffered by her heroine. Amazingly detailed and nuanced, I enjoyed the psychological ingredients laced into every aspect of this unconventional love story. I will term it a love story, in that the characters developed a strong bond in a short amount of time. Though it won't offe...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Loederkoningin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: erotic-or-sexy-ish, f-m, haunted-heroines, d-s, cultures, interestingly-twisted, remittance-girl, asia-othen-than-china-and-japan, dark-n-dirty

Although I had the "pleasure" to come across 3 flashers in my life so far, it never occurred to me to excitedly spread my legs for them.

The heroine in The Waiting Room does exactly that though, when she misses the evening train to Phnom Penh and is stranded on a deserted train platform in Battambang, Cambodia, with a German backpacker.

It was a waiting room - a shell with no window fittings or doors, a decidedly dead Coke machine which probably hadn't worked in years and, very much to her surpri...more

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Mar 30, 2012 MsT. Garden rated it 4 of 5 stars

If I had to use a single word to describe Remittance Girl's The Waiting Room, it would be intellectual. This isn't a book designed to send your hands to your crotch for a quick release.

Saying that it's intellectual does not take away from it's erotic elements. The sex is arousing and the scenes well written.

RG does an amazing job of showing how the sexuality of the characters was shaped by intense psychological and physical experiences. My favorite scene involves willing submission of a strong...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Jo * Smut-Dickted * rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-winter-challenge-nookie, borrowed-book, mf, rrc-challenge-of-challenges

This is literary erotica. The distinction between it and erotic romance may not seem very large but the chasm can be huge. Largely psychological with a couple of protagonists who you desperately want to get to know this one screws around with your head quite a bit. I did not get Sophie at all for the longest time - didn't understand her. Alex I got - he made sense to me and his background was just out of reach until he started talking to his mentor in the intervening chapters. The push and pull...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Saphrina rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I purchased The Waiting Room a few years ago and it occurred to me tonight that I hadn't written a review.

I usually write reviews of emotionally driven ineloquent drivel, partially as some sort of exercise in mind dysentery. As if I don't get it all out now, somehow I'll forget, which probably isn't the best way to write reviews. I try to process it while it's still raw but sometimes I find that I would have been better off sitting on it awhile—that and the fact that there are so many other read...more I purchased The Waiting Room a few years ago and it occurred to me tonight that I hadn't written a review.

I usually write reviews of emotionally driven ineloquent drivel, partially as some sort of exercise in mind dysentery. As if I don't get it all out now, somehow I'll forget, which probably isn't the best way to write reviews. I try to process it while it's still raw but sometimes I find that I would have been better off sitting on it awhile—that and the fact that there are so many other readers that can write and articulate far better, more well-deserved reviews.

I've been a fan of RG for some time now, long enough to be able to say years and not remember exactly how I found her writing online. I was probably still using dial-up at the time.

Right now I'm re-reading The Waiting Room and it's both achingly haunting and familiar, seeping into my veins and settling into my gut in welcome ache of melancholy, anxiety and perhaps a dash of foreboding.

Erotica is different things to different people. To me this is erotica. It's not soft and fuzzy, romance paraded as something else because of a few scenes or some character's flippant, transient traits.
There also manages to be a sense of drama (and to me drama has been so over done that using the word sounds overly dramatic) without it being anywhere near soap time. (Yes I've read and occasionally read those types of novels, but honestly there is only so much of that OTT that I can take at any given time.)

I feel that her writing and characters sit somewhere on the edge of the subconscious, wedged underneath the faces that we put on and lives we lead from day to day and raw reality of what is really going on inside—the hidden and for most people—perhaps the uncomfortable part.

To me it's always seemed that labels are important to people because for most part and for many it puts things into perspective and context. It brings me so much pleasure that her characters smoothly defy this even while subscribing to certain realities and concessions.
In general (and probably naturally so) we feel we need to know what things mean or what things are so we can understand it in relation to ourselves. In other words, many of us are afraid of what we don't understand (or want to admit to ourselves).

The Waiting Room (and other her writing) is confronting, challenging and moving. It can open you up to the possibilities, if you so wish to take a chance and avail yourself to a perspective other than your own. You may even be secretly shocked at being titillated by something other than what is dictated by social conventions.

RG is also a master at placing you there: at the station with thick humidity and the mosquitoes, in the bathroom with the mould and in the bed under the sweat of limbs and flesh. You can hear the voices, smell the air, taste the saliva and be overwhelmed by the emotion.

I wish I could do justice to review Sophie and Alexander's story, or better yet, journey, but the best I can say is to read it. Yes there is no fairytale ending and I'll admit that it broke me, and so I imagine that their story picks up again, somewhere years later and it's still as challenging and still as difficult but every bit worth it.

It's smart smut. Once it slips under your skin you won't be the same and to be blunt, RG will f*** your mind and leave you wanting more.(less)

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Jan 16, 2012 Monique rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-forbidden-bookshelf

Originally reviewed at The Forbidden Bookshelf.

The Waiting Room begins with a very unusual introduction. Alex and Sophie’s first meeting in an outdoor waiting room of a train station in Cambodia is very unexpected. They are both expatriates who are on their way back to Hanoi where they both work. It seems the next train is not due for several hours and nightfall has quickly descended upon them. Sophie decides to sleep on one of the benches but is soon woken by the sound of a lone stranger’s zipp...more Originally reviewed at The Forbidden Bookshelf.

The Waiting Room begins with a very unusual introduction. Alex and Sophie’s first meeting in an outdoor waiting room of a train station in Cambodia is very unexpected. They are both expatriates who are on their way back to Hanoi where they both work. It seems the next train is not due for several hours and nightfall has quickly descended upon them. Sophie decides to sleep on one of the benches but is soon woken by the sound of a lone stranger’s zipper being opened. What follows is a public scene of self-gratification that the two partake in that at first glance seems seedy and demeaning but a deeper look into it shows Alex’s very clever way to introduce himself as well as his intentions to Sophie.

This was a deeply emotional book about a man who saw a broken woman from a distance and built up a fascination and need to try and fix her. Alex saw in Sophie what he had experienced himself. He sensed in her a feeling of self-loathing and worthlessness that kept her from interacting on a deeper level with other people. He felt that if she did not do something soon she would lose herself to her angst and not be able to come back from it. When train service is halted due to flooding, Alex asks Sophie to stay with him for three days and let him help her to get over her depression and self-loathing. She agrees and what happens next is an emotional look into the interworking of the psychological journey that Alex takes her through. Sophie has a long history of disassociating during sexual acts. Alex uses pain, bondage and speech to keep her mind tethered to her body during their encounters.

“Voice and pain – it was interesting to feel it happen. No not interesting…It was exquisite; like opening a rusty old door and finding such treasures behind it. Oh, Marcus, she did like pain, very much.” He grinned sheepishly at the man across the table. “Nice for me too, you know?”
~ Alex to Marcus

After a couple of sessions of this therapy, Sophie finds that she can no longer recede inside herself and must face her feelings. This scares her and her flight response is triggered several times during the novel. At first Alex sees his need to help Sophie as a social project but he soon starts to have very strong feelings for her and doesn’t think he can let her go after their three days end.

Horrified, Sophie suddenly realized what Alex had done to her; this was his legacy. The switch was gone. The rabbit hole she’d once slid down so easily was closed to her. She was condemned to consciousness.
And it felt. Good. Amazingly good.

After reading The Waiting Room I was really disappointed with how it ended. I was so invested in the relationship between Alex and Sophie that I couldn’t believe it didn’t end the way I wanted it to. It took a second read through for me to realize that the story had to end the way it did in order for Sophie to really find that inner strength that she would need to keep herself grounded. I loved the patient and understanding way that Alex dealt with Sophie and his German accented speech made me smile. The way he treated Sophie was heartwarming but her inner struggles with herself were sometimes heart breaking. This novel was very well written and the flow was perfect. I enjoyed how we got to see Alex’s point of view and back story through conversations with his mentor, Marcus that were weaved throughout the story. The Waiting Room was a compelling book and I would recommend this to readers that are looking for a deep and emotional story that will leave a lasting impression on them.
(less)

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Sep 07, 2010 Claudia D. Christian rated it 5 of 5 stars

It is erotic. It is dark. It deals with Dominant/Submissive themes. All the stuff we love, right?

I find myself in a mental flurry because there is so much to say about The Waiting Room I am unsure where to begin. I want to approach this review as less of a personal experience and more of a review but it is very difficult. Let's see how I do.

The Waiting Room is 122 pages in PDF form and comes in at approximately 40,361 words. Remittance Girl (RG) uses language in a way I can only describe as stic...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Merrisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

This was a random find for me and the blurb sucked me in. I liked the characters and the initial shock of the opening chapter. Call me a sicko, but all I needed was that first encounter to get me hooked. It wasn't a beautiful story with a saccharine ending. It was complicated, dark and dirty... and it was sad. Happily ever after isn't for everyone.

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Nov 17, 2010 Alyn Rosselini rated it 5 of 5 stars

Want a book to haunt you long after you read it?

This is a phenomenal piece of work. The prose and imagery invoke delicious sensations in the recesses of one's mind - especially mine.

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Dec 23, 2012 Bree Cheese rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dark-reads, bdsm, contemporary, m-f

I love books like this - equal parts erotic, intelligent and well written. Though this is a novella, the length is perfect for the story.

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May 26, 2012 Joy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

My very favorite type of book--well written, thought provoking--what else could a reader want?

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Dec 05, 2012 Christine Rimmer rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is erotica that works for me. Excellent story, beautifully written.

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May 07, 2011 Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker rated it 4 of 5 stars

4 stars out of 5.

dark erotica- BUT this one is as much about the mind as the body. :)

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Dec 31, 2012 Claudia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, erotic, unusual-setting

not really a romance but still really enjoyed it

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Dec 16, 2011 Adrienne rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my favourite kind of erotica, a story that makes you think, and one that has enabled me think of other erotica stories I've read in a different light... some have moved closer to the porn side of things whilst others closer to the erotic.
For me erotica is more than a set of instructions neither is it a written 'visual' of a porn film, it doesn't need a 'love' story, The Waiting Room has/is none of these, but the mere fact that the story is still milling around in my head is testament to...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Shannon Barber rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is not simple erotica, if you are a fan of complex relationships and wonderfully written sex get it. This is a beautiful little book.

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May 14, 2013 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: erotica

Remittance Girl is my favourite contemporary erotica writer. The Waiting Room is one of my favs. RG does an excellent job of writing characters with psychological depth in interesting & exotic settings.

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May 09, 2013 Linh marked it as to-read

May 03, 2013 Milosc marked it as to-read

Apr 19, 2013 Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 17, 2013 Igraine marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall

Apr 14, 2013 Jessi marked it as to-read

Apr 13, 2013 Sliveredepitome added it

Apr 08, 2013 Sunny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 04, 2013 Paula marked it as to-read

Shelves: kobo

Apr 02, 2013 Anna (Bananas!) marked it as to-read

Shelves: recommended, straight-love, asia

Mar 24, 2013 Maryjon added it

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About Remittance Girl

Remittance Girl is a writer of erotic fiction. Most of my work is short stories, but I do write some longer pieces – serials, novellas, etc. I live as an expat in a small Southeast Asian country, where I teach, write and grow orchids. I live with a cat called Seven. Although writing is not my main profession, it is the focus of my life. I hope that shows in the quality of my work.

As a writer, I fe...more Remittance Girl is a writer of erotic fiction. Most of my work is short stories, but I do write some longer pieces – serials, novellas, etc. I live as an expat in a small Southeast Asian country, where I teach, write and grow orchids. I live with a cat called Seven. Although writing is not my main profession, it is the focus of my life. I hope that shows in the quality of my work.

As a writer, I feel very strongly that the erotica genre has suffered greatly over the years from a lack of quality, good editorship, and a dearth of publishers willing to put new material out there. It seems to have been appropriated by two literary camps: romantic fiction and pornography. These days most erotic fiction is either a romance novel with the spicy bits left in or, on the other side of the spectrum, stroke fiction with the solitary and express purpose of providing guided masturbatory fantasies.

This is sad, because I think erotic fiction, as a genre, should be neither and both those things, but it ought to be more, as well. I have no objection to representations of romantic entanglements in erotica, just as I have no objections to them in a sci-fi novel. Nor do I have any objections to a reader finding that a specific story arouses them to the point of wanting to masturbate. That’s also fine. But there are perfectly good genres where either of those reader desires are fulfilled specifically.

I believe that erotica, as a genre, should deal with the theme of erotic desire and, ideally, how desire informs, changes and manipulates the lives of the characters who are desirous. If erotic fiction can be this, then I think it has the potential to be an important cultural product, and should be proudly included in the literary cannon.

Some of you will have cleverly noticed that Remittance Girl is not the name I was born with. I decided to use a pseudonym because it is in keeping with the tradition of the Victorian pornographers. I could have chosen a name that sounded like a name, but where would be the fun it that. This is my identity for my writing, and for my online persona. I’ve had it for many years now.

The name itself is a reference to a “remittance man”. Wikipedia describes a remittance man thus:

Remittance Man
In the 19th century, the English usage of the word usually referred to money sent from England – the opposite direction to today’s usual usage of the term. A remittance man was an exile living on money sent from home. Within Victorian British culture, this often meant the black sheep of an upper or middle class family who was sent away (from the UK to the Empire), and paid to stay away. These men were generally of dissolute or drunken character, and may have been sent overseas after one or more disgraces at home.

If you wish to contact me, please email me at remittancegirl(at)gmail(dot)com(less)

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