View the story at Harriet’s Place

‘The Seduction of Simone’ provided a welcome break from the other book that I’m reading (Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin), this is a light novella, written in a style both fluttery and vivid and one that I found pretty engaging. The story itself is pretty good, and the telling is nice as it is so clearly told by a woman. Scott diverges entirely from modern female writers (who tend to be sexless and hence boring (an exception to this is probably Love Again by Doris Lessing) and writes in a style which seems overly blithe at first but which quickly converges into a tempo that is fascinating. Margaret is a thirty-something woman, and she sees Simone, a pretty twenty year old in a bar one day and falls in love with her. Like I said, clich�. Except maybe for Margaret’s and Simone’s bisexuality, but that is glossed over in this story, and somehow that makes what happens between them more an act between people falling in love than an examination of a peculiar kind of love – this is most refreshing among online writers. I liked this. Another tinge of vivid color in this book is the Modern Britishness of it all – how Margaret frames her personality to suit the younger crowd that Simone hangs around with and how she describes Britan in a trip that she and Simone goes on. In fact, I think I’ll quote something:

Whatever you may have read about the London Eye, it is a truly spectacular sight, a marvel of our times. The overriding culture in Britain at the start of the millennium is one of laboured and unpleasant cynicism, a sour refusal to look at anything in a positive light, but the Wheel is a true triumph, an aesthetic delight, a cultural treasure and a shared experience which can unite a nation riven by self-made divisions. It is, simply, beautiful.

Simone and I stood on the steps beneath Westminster Bridge, looking over the Thames at its splendid steel frame, glinting proudly in the emerging sun, with the grandly functional County Hall forming a sober backdrop. It was so big. No matter how many times one hears how big it is, the first sighting is always a shock.

“It’s fantastic,” Simone said, unable to tear her eyes from it. “Stunning. I had no idea it would be that good.” She turned and looked at me, and for the first time her cool demeanour slipped and a look of unrestrained excitement invaded her features. [..]

Link to an eBook version of ‘The Seduction of Simone’

As an aside, this is the first time that I’m featuring online writing at Vysnu. Scott seems to be an apt author to feature since she provides a good median among the writers that I’ve read – readily flippant and serious, and an easy read to the eye. With no offense to Ms. Scott, there are better undiscovered writers out there, and I’ll feature some of them when I get to them.