(pb; 2013: erotic/supernatural novel)
From the back cover:
"Inspired by Oscar Wilde's classic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mitzi Szereto continues where Wilde left off in her Faustian tale of a man with eternal youth and great physical beauty who lives a life of corruption, decadence and hedonism. The story begins in the bordellos of Jazz-Age Paris, moving to the opium dens of Marrakesh and the alluring anonymity of South America. Will love be Dorian's redemption or his final curse?"
Review:
Wilde is a focused burn-through-it read. Szereto masterfully balances memorable characterization, supernatural (often horrific) elements, and a visually and exquisitely realized eroticism, bringing them together in a gripping book that actually had me rooting for Gray's underlying quest for redemption, despite his (emotionally) grotesque debaucheries and eras. This is one of the best erotic-supernatural themed novels that I've read in a long while - and one of the few that may be worth re-reading, not only for pleasure but for pointers on how to write a character-rich, era-seamless tale that not only builds on a classic work but matches Wilde's Gray in its excellence.
Worth owning, this.
