Taming the Beast by Emily Maguire

Taming the Beast

Emily Maguire

This is a story of obsession, lust and despair, made especially shocking by its focus on a young teenager adrift in an adult world. The violence and sex scenes are graphic. What kept me reading was the matter-of -fact way in which Sarah describes her situation, that some characters do seem to genuinely love each other and the wish to believe that all might turn out well in the end.

Extract
Sarah nearly lost the six glasses of moselle she'd drunk. Jamie was such a soppy pain in the arse sometimes. But though his sentimentality made her sick, his eyes made her sad and she couldn't be cruel or sarcastic.
'Come here.' She caught him around the waist and pulled him to her. 'Have I told you how good you look in that suit?' She kissed his throat above his collar.
'No Sarah, I have to go back-'
'In a minute.' Sarah unzipped his pants. 'I want you.'
'How can you be so fucking insensitive? I can't do this on, oh, Sarah, don't.'

Parallels
  • Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  • The Collector by John Fowles
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Violence
Explicit sexual content