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A Slow Process of Understanding
A Slow Process of Understanding by Faith Ashlin
About Faith Ashlin
How does a world that accepts slavery affect both master and slave? Can two people build a
new life for themselves with a start like theirs?
It’s a world like this one except for the all-powerful State that’s very firmly in control and the fact
that slavery is legal. Jimmy had never really thought about it or the fight for freedom going on
around him. He was too busy enjoying his privileged life as an actor on a sci-fi show.
But what is he meant to do when he’s forced to permanently bond to a slave he doesn’t want
just because he made one silly, drunken mistake? Does it change who he is, what he is?
Trouble is, Jimmy isn’t sure who he was to start with. He’d never thought about it.
And what about his slave, Nate? Can a slave force Jimmy into learning something about
himself?
About Faith Ashlin
When Faith was clearing out her attic many years ago, she found a book she'd written as a ten-
year-old. On rereading it she realised that it was the love story of two boys. Over the years her
fascination with the image of beautiful young men, coiled together as they fell head over heels in
love, became a passion for her.
Since that first innocent book—written in purple sparkly pen—she has written
many stories, set in varied worlds, but always with two men finding their way to happiness.
Still nothing much has changed because now she can be found in a daydream, wandering around
the supermarket, or sitting in a meeting at work still dreaming up stories.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 19, 2014
4 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Faith Ashlin
8 books26 followersWhen Faith was clearing out her attic many years ago, she found a book she’d written as a ten-year old. On rereading it she realized that it was the love story of two boys. Over the years her fascination with the image of beautiful young men, coiled together as they fell head over heels in love, became a passion for her.
Since that first innocent book – written in purple sparkly pen – she has written many stories, set in varied worlds but always with two men finding their way to happiness.
Nothing much has changed because now she can be found in a daydream, wandering around the supermarkets of London, or sitting in a meeting at work still dreaming up stories.
Since that first innocent book – written in purple sparkly pen – she has written many stories, set in varied worlds but always with two men finding their way to happiness.
Nothing much has changed because now she can be found in a daydream, wandering around the supermarkets of London, or sitting in a meeting at work still dreaming up stories.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 26, 2015
....This is what I love the very most about reading; finding gems like this that you can't put down til you're done. Gems from out of nowhere, little known books no-one's really read that you stumble upon by accident and can't stop reading til the very last page. Not the easiest of reads, for many reasons, but Jimmy and Nate was worth it. It was all worth it. Truly, madly, deeply loved this book.
March 24, 2015
This was a surprisingly complex story of two men sentenced to prison: one required to take on a slave the other to be that slave. The sentence is intended as punishment for both, as the first had publicly condemned "queers" and the other detested the very idea of being someone's slave. Nearly the first half of the story is how they manage their prison time, the second half after they are released and the dynamics change quite a bit.
Don't want to spoil the story, but it was very well-written and interesting to watch these characters grow and change. Really enjoyed it! Worthy read!
Don't want to spoil the story, but it was very well-written and interesting to watch these characters grow and change. Really enjoyed it! Worthy read!
November 30, 2014
Original Blog Post: eARC Review: A Slow Process of Understanding by Faith Ashlin
I started out reading this with an attitude of hohum. Swear! I thought, okay, here ya go, another one and yeah, the Jimmy character is such an idiot, he is so caught up in his own magnanimity, he is also totally clueless. What a character. Ho. Hum.
Then it all changed and before I knew it, things changed in this story and it became increasingly apparent that I had misjudged this and I really apologize to the author.
We have a world where slavery is legal and everyone owned one, could treat the slaves like animals, considered them lower than cattle, and of course abused them. Remember: slaves are not humans, they are sub-humans. Just like in the good old days before the Revolution in our real world. And frankly, the way this whole book reads, where the owners are so matter of fact in their abuse of their slavery, it was disgusting.
Jimmy is a popular and successful actor but he is a clueless man. He does not even understand why he got into trouble in the first place, does not understand why he went to jail with a violation so stupid he gets bonded to a slave. Bonding meant worse than marriage to a slave, especially a male slave. So there he is, bonded to a male slave he knows not what to do with except that he has to take care of him better than what he had seen other owners do. That attitude of his was the seed that made him special.
Then we have Nate, the slave who got bonded to Jimmy and he keeps a whole lot of secrets. His acting the good slave was done carefully after studying his new master. He wondered how this Jimmy was so without any idea as to who he was and what he stood for. The whole world knew, for crying out loud, but not his Jimmy. Now he will play the cards well so he can get well and get on with his life.
Jimmy falls in love and thinks Nate does too but when reality sets in, he realizes that his slave was not what he seemed to be and it surprised and hurt him. Especially after he learns that he was stupid enough not to know who he got bonded to in the first place. Now, he has to look from a distance at the work Nate and his crew were doing. The work that would change the world slowly but surely. As he looks, he learns and he studies, and he loves. When the learning begins, he no longer walked around with eyes wide shut and he matures as a human being with principles.
As Nate sees the changes in Jimmy, he too learns and he too craves for the what if. Can he trust Jimmy enough to be with him even when the law was after him? Can he trust him enough even when his friends in the movement told him otherwise? Can he trust him enough to fall in love with him, for real this time?
OH, this was such an awesome, awesome read! I loved how Jimmy's character changes from someone I could not stand into a man of conviction and dedication to a cause and to a man he was so deep into. Nate was an enigma but his character slowly came to whole once the end was reached. Yes, it's about slavery but it is a story that should be read.
Note: Copy provided by publisher for an honest review.
I started out reading this with an attitude of hohum. Swear! I thought, okay, here ya go, another one and yeah, the Jimmy character is such an idiot, he is so caught up in his own magnanimity, he is also totally clueless. What a character. Ho. Hum.
Then it all changed and before I knew it, things changed in this story and it became increasingly apparent that I had misjudged this and I really apologize to the author.
We have a world where slavery is legal and everyone owned one, could treat the slaves like animals, considered them lower than cattle, and of course abused them. Remember: slaves are not humans, they are sub-humans. Just like in the good old days before the Revolution in our real world. And frankly, the way this whole book reads, where the owners are so matter of fact in their abuse of their slavery, it was disgusting.
Jimmy is a popular and successful actor but he is a clueless man. He does not even understand why he got into trouble in the first place, does not understand why he went to jail with a violation so stupid he gets bonded to a slave. Bonding meant worse than marriage to a slave, especially a male slave. So there he is, bonded to a male slave he knows not what to do with except that he has to take care of him better than what he had seen other owners do. That attitude of his was the seed that made him special.
Then we have Nate, the slave who got bonded to Jimmy and he keeps a whole lot of secrets. His acting the good slave was done carefully after studying his new master. He wondered how this Jimmy was so without any idea as to who he was and what he stood for. The whole world knew, for crying out loud, but not his Jimmy. Now he will play the cards well so he can get well and get on with his life.
Jimmy falls in love and thinks Nate does too but when reality sets in, he realizes that his slave was not what he seemed to be and it surprised and hurt him. Especially after he learns that he was stupid enough not to know who he got bonded to in the first place. Now, he has to look from a distance at the work Nate and his crew were doing. The work that would change the world slowly but surely. As he looks, he learns and he studies, and he loves. When the learning begins, he no longer walked around with eyes wide shut and he matures as a human being with principles.
As Nate sees the changes in Jimmy, he too learns and he too craves for the what if. Can he trust Jimmy enough to be with him even when the law was after him? Can he trust him enough even when his friends in the movement told him otherwise? Can he trust him enough to fall in love with him, for real this time?
OH, this was such an awesome, awesome read! I loved how Jimmy's character changes from someone I could not stand into a man of conviction and dedication to a cause and to a man he was so deep into. Nate was an enigma but his character slowly came to whole once the end was reached. Yes, it's about slavery but it is a story that should be read.
Note: Copy provided by publisher for an honest review.
December 27, 2014
A Joyfully Jay review.
3 stars
Before I outline the pros and cons to this story, it is important to note that there is both dubious consent and a rather brutal rape scene on page. But beyond that, the idea of rape and consent is discussed often in the second half of the novel and, while not done cavalierly, it is a repetitive theme and, at times, I was confused as to why it was continually brought up again and again. However, the author makes some very important and salient points about slavery and how it takes away all consent to owning your body and choosing with whom and when you will allow sex.
I believe this novel really attempted to tell us that slavery in any form and with either a good and caring “owner” or a brutal and evil one really had no distinction. The fact was that even those slaves treated kindly were stripped of their basic human rights and had become chattel. The first time this was spoken of in the story, and addressed by Nate, it was done very articulately. But Jimmy was a very dull boy and seemed to need to revisit this idea over and over while Nate decided if he could forgive him. After the third or fourth discussion between the two men, I was hard pressed to see any new territory uncovered by the author. It was merely another scene where Jimmy was remorseful and understood more completely how horrible he was for being an owner and Nate relived his horror as a slave again.
Read Sammy’s review in its entirety here.
3 stars
Before I outline the pros and cons to this story, it is important to note that there is both dubious consent and a rather brutal rape scene on page. But beyond that, the idea of rape and consent is discussed often in the second half of the novel and, while not done cavalierly, it is a repetitive theme and, at times, I was confused as to why it was continually brought up again and again. However, the author makes some very important and salient points about slavery and how it takes away all consent to owning your body and choosing with whom and when you will allow sex.
I believe this novel really attempted to tell us that slavery in any form and with either a good and caring “owner” or a brutal and evil one really had no distinction. The fact was that even those slaves treated kindly were stripped of their basic human rights and had become chattel. The first time this was spoken of in the story, and addressed by Nate, it was done very articulately. But Jimmy was a very dull boy and seemed to need to revisit this idea over and over while Nate decided if he could forgive him. After the third or fourth discussion between the two men, I was hard pressed to see any new territory uncovered by the author. It was merely another scene where Jimmy was remorseful and understood more completely how horrible he was for being an owner and Nate relived his horror as a slave again.
Read Sammy’s review in its entirety here.
July 20, 2015
Compelling story set in a world not unlike our own but where slavery exists. Jimmy is sent to prison and part of his sentence is to accept a lifelong bonding with slave Nate whom he must be responsible for.
Jimmy is too self-absorbed to consider anything much further than his own comfort. Besides taking Nate at face value, he finds himself falling in love with his slave. All is not as it seems and Jimmy is thrown into turmoil leading him to examine himself and his motives in stark detail.
A Slow Process of Understanding deals with themes of rape, self image and honesty. I found it to be a hugely emotional and thought provoking read, more so than I had imagined from the first few chapters.
From the outset, the relationship between Jimmy and Nate has a damaging impact and both men struggle with each other and their feelings uncertain if they can have any kind of future together.
There are moments of humour and pathos as these two damaged individuals learn from their mistakes and take huge risks to be together as the world changes around them.
Jimmy is too self-absorbed to consider anything much further than his own comfort. Besides taking Nate at face value, he finds himself falling in love with his slave. All is not as it seems and Jimmy is thrown into turmoil leading him to examine himself and his motives in stark detail.
A Slow Process of Understanding deals with themes of rape, self image and honesty. I found it to be a hugely emotional and thought provoking read, more so than I had imagined from the first few chapters.
From the outset, the relationship between Jimmy and Nate has a damaging impact and both men struggle with each other and their feelings uncertain if they can have any kind of future together.
There are moments of humour and pathos as these two damaged individuals learn from their mistakes and take huge risks to be together as the world changes around them.
Read
June 3, 2018I read the fic version of this years ago and only recently found out it was pulled to publish. Really curious to see how many changes were made to this for the transition. As always there are things I'm happy to overlook in a fic that would get some serious stars deducted for profic.
February 27, 2019
This was a quite different type of master/slave story, and I enjoyed it. I liked the characters and felt they were well-drawn but it was somewhat repetitive at times. Trimmed down a bit, this story would be AWESOME.
April 10, 2018
I was fascinated about how easily I was tricked into believing that everything was alright with the master/slave relationship. I love books which do that to me, forcing me away from my comfort zone. I reread this book at least three times.
December 1, 2018
I can't believe this was originally J2 fanfic because it's fucking amazing. Like, it starts out pretty bad and I was sure I was going to slog through it (Jimmy is an idiot) but it takes a sharp right turn and becomes AMAZING. Would totally read a sequel with these two. ❤️
May 3, 2022
Yes, you may be frustrated with Jimmy well into the beginning of the book. Even I was saying out loud, "You're an idiot" to him multiple times, cringing. However, those parts were just a little endearing to me, and in the end, Jimmy grows as a character. I recommend that you give this book a try.
March 2, 2016
It is a great book, and a very original one. I don't think I've ever met a take of master/slave relationship like that. It's a second book of Faith Ashlin I've read, and I'm again astonished how precisely she nails human psychology. She really knows how people think, feel and behave in reality. It was also an extremely interesting and emotional read. Jimmy was such a dick in the beginning but still, I couldn't help liking him and I just wonder what had to happen to make him wake up. Well, it was a rough awakening but exactly what he needed. It takes a lot of courage to see yourself objectively as he did, to realize his mistakes and to change. And for Nate, it also take courage to go for what he wanted, not to submit to other people's opinions about his relations with Jimmy.
January 20, 2015
4.5 stars--This is a well written and edited book. The storyline was fresh and presented nicely. While the beginning was a bit slow, it wasn't long before I was totally absorbed in the story. Highly recommended read!
August 25, 2016
This is not the dark erotic book you think it'll be. If you're looking for dark, prison, in your face violence, this is not the book for you. It's definitely subtle and made you think. Although there were a few things I think could've been done differently, I still really loved the book.
March 20, 2016
Wow... So enjoyed this one!!! The description just does not do justice. Book is so much more.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews