Songbird – Noir With An Erotic Twist
Songbird – by Rachel de Vine
In classic film noir, the gritty opening scenes find colour when the screen is graced by the femme fatale, a striking, flawed woman who psychologically challenges the status quo represented by a dominant, usually charismatic male.
This movie trope was borrowed from pulp fiction writers – Dashiell Hammett, Elmore Leonard, Raymond Chandler, and has been taken back by writers in various forms such as Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, where young professionals are seen as empty drones finding meaning beyond the cubicle walls of open offices by bare-knuckle brawls.
Rachel de Vine in “Songbird” provides an erotic twist to the genre with her vivid portrait of Harry, an adrenaline addicted mid-thirties alpha male with women he changes as often as his suits, a man with a taste for money, kink and domination. Harry’s world is turned upside-down when he sees and hears the new chanteuse at a night club run by his friend Jake. Pascale is the classic femme fatale, French, of course, a woman with secrets on the run from an abusive past, and a soft mesmerizing accent that penetrates Harry’s heart and soul.
Pascale’s onstage persona is at odds with the introverted woman Harry meets backstage, but there’s that frisson, that chemistry couples feel and can’t describe. They become lovers. Harry is drawn into Pascale’s world but can never find out what haunts her.
While Jake, in a desperate, unhappy marriage, has a fling with one of his staff, the two couples go through a period of bliss, the calm before the storm gathering about them as they enter the last act. Harry is away on business when Pascale’s past finally catches up with her and you’ll burn your fingers flicking through the pages of “Songbird” as the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways that leads to an ending you may have expected but not in the way you expected.
Rachel de Vine is a skilled writer who draws believable portraits of complex characters and allows them the freedom to unveil their mysteries and weave their own plots. This was 5***** pleasure read in two tasty chunks.
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