It would appear that the Fifty Shades of Grey has had a profound effect not only on readers but also on writers as we enter a whole new genre of ‘mummy porn’. Well known classics such as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Sherlock Holmes are getting an overhaul to include the omnipresent sex scenes that fill modern women’s novels more than ever before.
The UK’s specialist publisher, Total-E Bound has taken the likes of Charlotte and Emily Bronte and Arthur Conan Doyle and included sex scenes and fetish scenes to reinvent the much loved books as adult fiction.
To give you a taste of what to expect, Jane Eyre has sex with Mr Rochester, as do Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy and a gay relationship develops between the infamous Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. Other books in the collection include Northanger Abbey and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
The books are still recognisable from the original; however the new sex scenes are interspersed with text we have come to love. The new collection Clandestine Classics take the romances to the next level, which were only yearned for when reading the first edition.
Total-E-Bound, the UK’s largest e-Book publisher of erotic romance fiction thinks that this reinvention of the classics has brought a whole new meaning to the genre.
Claire Siemaszkiewicz, founder of Total-E-Bound Publishing, comments;
“Whenever I read classics from authors like Jane Austen, I often think about the potential 'uncensored versions' that the original authors were unable — or unwilling — to include. After all, a lot of these stories are, at the heart, romances. With the launch of Clandestine Classics, readers will finally be able to read what the books could have been like if erotic romance had been acceptable in that day and age, redefining the boundaries and bringing the classics to a new generation of readers.
“As the first erotic romance publisher to bring out a line of re-imagined classics, we recognise it's a bold move that may have a polarising effect on readers. We’re keeping the works as close to the original classics as possible. It's not our intention to rewrite or distort them but to create a whole new experience, enhancing the novels by adding deeper relationships, character development, and the 'missing' scenes for readers to enjoy.”
Predictably so, more and more woman seeking ‘mummy porn’ are choosing to purchase it as an e book than a paper or hardback to disguise the embarrassment of everyone knowing their text of choice. The figures don’t lie as erotic romance fiction has increased by around a third in the last 12 months, with 50 per cent of sales through e-books.
Total-E-Bound, a worldwide seller of eBooks, has called upon the expertise of writers such as Sierra Cartwright, Sarah Masters, Amy Armstrong, Marie Sexton and Desiree Holt — at 76, the world's oldest erotic romance writer — launching the series at the end of July.
Award-winning British born author Sierra Cartwright, who is penning the new version of Jane Eyre, said:
“Jane Eyre is a breathtakingly beautiful story which has withstood the test of time. Jane is multi-dimensional, brave; committed to her course of action, and Rochester . . . sigh . . . he's such an engaging enigma. The love story is captivating, real, rich, complex, and fraught with real conflict.
“There are so many joys of working on Jane Eyre to add erotic content. The biggest challenge it to be sure it's in fitting with Jane's character and that the additions don't change the beautiful flow of the story.
“I'm very excited by Total-E-Bound's vision for retelling the classics. The Clandestine Classics imprint is intriguing, giving a modern audience access to amazing stories they may have missed.”
British novelist Sarah Masters has altered the first Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet as a gay romance, said: “I'd often wondered what it would be like to see a relationship between Holmes and Watson that went beyond companions, so to have the opportunity to do so was very exciting.”
Other classics to receive the sexed up treatment include Dracula, Treasure Island, Wuthering Heights, The Three Musketeers and the Phantom of the Opera are set to follow. Each novel will still read as it originally did, however include supposed ‘deleted scenes’ such as straight, gay, ménage and BDSM relationships.
Female First Lucy Walton
Tagged in Fifty Shades Of Grey