As Prince Harry cavorts naked in a Vegas hotel and Kate Middleton goes topless, is this more evidence that, for the rich and famous, promiscuity is a way of life?
Granted, Prince Harry is free and single and entitled to fill his boots from the Vegas Strip to Kabul’s murder mile, but his old man, and I’m talking Charles here, has previous, as they say down the Yard. But maybe we should be admiring Harry for his promiscuity and Charles for his infidelity? We Brits have after all always been known, admired even, for our sex scandals and our tradition of West End bedroom romps.
Shows like Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle, some might say, only go to prove that everyone is at it. But the trailer-park types that Springer and Kyle seek out and exploit are no less representative than Harry and Charles of the public at large. So, as far as the rich and famous are concerned, is promiscuity and infidelity a way of life? And if it is, why should we care?
My latest novel, When the Siren Calls, might have you believe it is, and that we should care. Seduction, deception and betrayal are central themes and there is an unmistakeable undertone suggesting low morals are indeed the order of the day amongst the rich and powerful.
The good news is that the theme is not the story. The book is a sensual and moving emotional drama around a modern day Lady Chatterley. Yes, it pulls the bedsheets off the decadent life-style amongst Britain’s jet-set, but that is not the point of the story. In this fast-paced romantic suspense and business thriller, I take you into a world that is populated by almost universally rich men and beautiful women. The men are mostly predatory adulterers, and the women are all adept at using their sexuality to manipulate the men. From the boardroom to the bedroom, infidelity is pervasive,
The heroine who is prey amongst the devious and the decadent is the restless and neglected Isobel, who finds that her cosseted cotton-wool existence leads to a search for the exotic. The exotic in this case being the enigmatic Jay, a powerful and controlling lothario who lures her away from her workaholic husband and into the hot, romantic Tuscan life, where he pushes her to continually go beyond her sexual boundaries. If the story tells us anything, it is that when a woman with high ideals meets a man with low morals, she’d better watch out.
Where Fifty Shades of Grey is about one man’s depravity, my story explores the amoral values of a privileged elite. At a time when we all seem to crave the celebrity life-style, this cutting satire will be seen by some as a warning as to how atavistic and superficial the world of the rich and famous can be and how, like Isobel and Jay, we must all ultimately pay for our sins.
What makes me qualified to hold forth on the morals of the rich and powerful, you might well ask? I am after all just an unemployed writer of the written word. But that wasn’t always the case, my friends. Before two heart attacks took their toll I earnt my daily crust amongst city fat-cats and a world of corporate excess, where the demi-monde world of city-player schmooze was very much a reality. And since I left that world behind me, I have retreated to the suburbs close to a celebrity bubble where it is common-place to bump into a footballer or a rock-star coming out of the local bookie or cappuccino bar. And i enjoy nothing better than people watching over my mid-morning latte.
My novel of course exaggerates, like all satires, the aspects of life it seeks to put under the spotlight. But if you are fascinated by the world of celebrity, or if you are appalled by it, When the Siren Calls could be the book for you.
Thanks for popping in, and i look forward to seeing you back here soon.