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Stained With The Tears Of Desade
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Tim Smith
36 books36 followersTim Smith is an award-winning, bestselling author whose books range from romantic mystery/thrillers to contemporary erotic romance. He is also a freelance photographer. When he isn't pursuing those two passions he can often be found in the Florida Keys, indulging his passion for parasailing between research and seeking out the perfect Mojito.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 22, 2019
The title of this novel is misleading, unless it is meant to imply that the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), the original upper-class sadist, would be disappointed to tears with this cheerful romance about a young woman who discovers her true nature and her true love just after college graduation. At age 29, Emily is young enough to be both innocent and physically luscious, but old enough to make adult decisions. After all, she decided to go back to school to get a Master’s degree in architecture.
The dizzying uncertainty of being at a turning-point makes a good plot premise. When Emily is trying to decide which job offer to accept, she learns, much to her surprise, that her best friend Nancy has a secret life as a submissive. Once the secret is out, Nancy is willing to introduce Emily to the culture of BDSM and fetish clubs, much like Beatrice guiding the medieval poet Dante safely through Purgatory and Hell. The erotic scenes in this novel take place in specific places which are actually places of business: a fetish wear store and several clubs. The settings could have served to link Emily’s interest in architectural design with her interest in “the lifestyle,” but the author has missed this chance. They could also have served to launch a useful discussion on whether BDSM has been commodified and marketed like Club Med vacations, but they do not.
There are a few realistic details in this novel. Before her “coming out” into BDSM, Emily is engaged to a nice man named Mark. He is not shocked when he learns about her new interests, and the love between them continues to be strong, but Emily wonders whether it is strong enough to accommodate her new desires, especially if Mark does not have an inner Dominant waiting to come out. The issue of polyamory in “the lifestyle” is also raised as a problem. Emily is described as a one-man woman (the traditional “nice girl” of romantic fiction) who wonders whether she might have to choose between Mark and her newfound leather “family.” Rest assured, however: there is a happy ending.
This novel is essentially a beach book: a fast read about romantic entanglements which are much easier to get out of than effective bondage—which is actually described in a scene about a demonstration in a club. The expert who shows the viewer (and the reader) how to hogtie a flexible submissive is the only African-American in the novel. He is described as a nice guy who just dropped in to demonstrate a particular technique, and he looks a fantasy version of the author, who decided to make a guest appearance in a plot which is otherwise not strong on realism.
As in other books which have not been seriously edited (if at all), there are some inaccurate word choices. On a more distracting level, the third-person narrator’s constant switching from past to present tense and back is disorienting: is the reader meant to imagine that every scene is happening in the moment, or that it is all past history which has led to a resolution?
In the literary history of BDSM (to which the author refers in his title), this novel is like a shiny, stainless steel gadget which is guaranteed not to cause harm because it does not provoke deep thought or deep feelings. As many friends have pointed out to me, however, not everything in print needs to be worthy of a Ph.D. thesis in literature. As a fantasy, this novel is satisfying enough.
The dizzying uncertainty of being at a turning-point makes a good plot premise. When Emily is trying to decide which job offer to accept, she learns, much to her surprise, that her best friend Nancy has a secret life as a submissive. Once the secret is out, Nancy is willing to introduce Emily to the culture of BDSM and fetish clubs, much like Beatrice guiding the medieval poet Dante safely through Purgatory and Hell. The erotic scenes in this novel take place in specific places which are actually places of business: a fetish wear store and several clubs. The settings could have served to link Emily’s interest in architectural design with her interest in “the lifestyle,” but the author has missed this chance. They could also have served to launch a useful discussion on whether BDSM has been commodified and marketed like Club Med vacations, but they do not.
There are a few realistic details in this novel. Before her “coming out” into BDSM, Emily is engaged to a nice man named Mark. He is not shocked when he learns about her new interests, and the love between them continues to be strong, but Emily wonders whether it is strong enough to accommodate her new desires, especially if Mark does not have an inner Dominant waiting to come out. The issue of polyamory in “the lifestyle” is also raised as a problem. Emily is described as a one-man woman (the traditional “nice girl” of romantic fiction) who wonders whether she might have to choose between Mark and her newfound leather “family.” Rest assured, however: there is a happy ending.
This novel is essentially a beach book: a fast read about romantic entanglements which are much easier to get out of than effective bondage—which is actually described in a scene about a demonstration in a club. The expert who shows the viewer (and the reader) how to hogtie a flexible submissive is the only African-American in the novel. He is described as a nice guy who just dropped in to demonstrate a particular technique, and he looks a fantasy version of the author, who decided to make a guest appearance in a plot which is otherwise not strong on realism.
As in other books which have not been seriously edited (if at all), there are some inaccurate word choices. On a more distracting level, the third-person narrator’s constant switching from past to present tense and back is disorienting: is the reader meant to imagine that every scene is happening in the moment, or that it is all past history which has led to a resolution?
In the literary history of BDSM (to which the author refers in his title), this novel is like a shiny, stainless steel gadget which is guaranteed not to cause harm because it does not provoke deep thought or deep feelings. As many friends have pointed out to me, however, not everything in print needs to be worthy of a Ph.D. thesis in literature. As a fantasy, this novel is satisfying enough.
Displaying 1 of 1 review