Millstone - Chapter 2

Across London Richard Allston was checking his email, he noted the reply from Jo over at Wallace Turner. That was a very quick turnaround he thought and opened it thinking he would get a head-start on the weekend's column on the week's big literary news that D C Williams, author of the amazingly popular "Her Flame Darkened" series, was actually a man. Even better still he would have some titbits of information for the interview he was about to do on the BBC's early evening magazine show where he would be talking about the news. He was due to go up against Miranda Masterson and although he had a lot of time for her facing the iconic feminist author was always a scary prospect.

He read through the email and quickly realised it was an error, the girl at the publishers had replied instead of forwarded the email. In an instant the penny dropped, this was an email to secretive author himself. Richard laughed out load as he read it "Silly, silly girl" he said. His eyes widened as he read the passage "One day I am going to come down to Millstone and hug you". He grabbed his phone and flipped to Google Maps, a quick search for "Millstone" revealed that there was only one location with that name...a small, rural village in the Cotswolds. Things had just got very interesting.

Back in Millstone Martin was still blissfully unaware that his identity was one step closer to being revealed. He had just received a text from Lisa "Book group later. Will go straight from work. See you in The Swan afterwards". He sighed, he knew things were distant and cold between them these days and he wanted nothing better than to return to the passion and sponaneity of their early years but there just seemed to be so much baggage and clutter in their lives. Another night with the girls for her and another night in the pub for him.

Lisa's book group had an elephant in the room. The elephant being the "Her Flame Darkened" series. Everyone knew everyone else adored the erotic adventures of Samantha Brantley and the rise of her international business empire via various drama, intrigue and sexual empowerment...no-one, however, wanted to be the first admit to it. Best to purvey the image of a wholesome group of middle class ladies, the backbone of their small village. When, Jenny, one of the their newer members had suggested putting the first book on the reading list Lisa had to bite her lip as the various women feigned ignorance and disinterest. Lisa knew her best friend Belinda already had part one as she had seen it tucked away in her gym bag. "Oh? Is that those naughty books people are talking about?" had asked innocently. Lisa had teased her about it mercilessly later on. Lisa had read all four books on her Kindle and had book five on order already. It say she was obsessed with them was an understatement. She was sure she wasn't the only one.

This week they had met in Verity's gorgeous detached cottage. She was the epitome of a the middle-England "Ladies who lunch" ethos. Extremely well to do, frightfully conservative and an incorrigable gossip....she was however very generous and had endless time for people. A strange mix and one Lisa was never fully comfortable with. The women had all finished the book, some of the months before the group had even decided to choose it. They sat round and drank wine discussing the revelation that DC Williams was in fact a man. "I just presumed it would be a woman" mused Verity "...I mean it is all so focused on Sam"

Belinda chirped in "He must have had help from a good female writer I think"

Jenny piped up "I was totally shocked, it is like the books are the opposite of macho...It has a totally feminist heart" Lisa looked at Jenny. She was fairly new to the village having moved here six months ago with her unspeakably rich stock-broker husband Mike. Most people wrote her off as a typical trophy wife but Lisa suspected her was something much deeper below the surface. She decided to make it her mission to find out more about her.

Verity reached for the remote "I think they are discussing it on 'Now at 7" today" and instantly Richard Allston appeared on the screen alongside Miranda Masterson. Richard was talking to the presenter but gesturing towards his female panelist "Miranda will now claim to dislike the series purely because it has a male stamp on it and I hope that isn't reflected in the wider public because the books have been hugely popular"

Miranda bristled "I have no problem with them being written by a man"

Richard continued "Miranda has on several occasions been scathing about works such as this, she has given male authors wretched reviews and dismissed them as porn...the one exception being Her Flame Darkened, when she stated it was written by a woman for women"

Miranda wasn't going to be put on the back foot even though secretly she was furious that Samantha Brantley was the product of a man's imagination. She had championed the works for years as a source of female sexual empowerment, now to find out the author was male has left her feeling cheated. She gave the presenter her most patient smile, making it eminently clear she was waiting for the person to stop spouting their silly nonsense before she, herself told the world what was really happening. It was a look that her opponents knew only to well and had come to fear. Richard stopped and Miranda glanced towards him. She was going to rip him apart in only the way she could...then he was going to pay for her cocktails later "Richard knows I love him but he is showing exactly why so many of the books deserve one star reviews...if he is comparing the soft-porn tripe that is languishing all over our bookshop shelves to a work like the Darkened series then you can see why these books have called out to so many women. You see Her Fame Darkened is erotic literature and feminist erotic literature at that..."

Richard interjected "Written. By. A. Bloke"

Miranda was getting into her flow now and wasn't going to let her opponent off the hook "A bloke" she mimicked "It is a work of fiction, written by a man but let's not pretend this will just be some chap's naughty fantasy...This is clearly someone immersed in feminist culture and that is what sets it apart. You can see some of the scenes and characters in the book are lifted almost directly from the BDSM culture of Berlin or New York and if you go there those communities have femininity at their heart...these books couldn't exist without it. Richard enjoys the books because they are titillating, they work on that level but they are some much more than a quick bit of furtive slap and tickle to be enjoyed....by a typical bloke" She patted Richard's hand to be clear she was putting him in that bracket

The presenter was enjoying this and especially admiring Miranda for undermining Richard so cuttingly on national tv.

Richard was in danger of letting his temper get away from him "You see this is typical of the aloof metropolitan attitude, the books have to come from Berlin or Paris or New York..."

Miranda rolled her eyes "Certainly not Paris Richard". Make sure everyone knew she was the knowledgeable one in the room

"...It couldn't possibly be a homegrown male British writer who just happens to be talented enough to be able to tap into sexuality from a female perspective."

Miranda wasn't going to let Richard make wild claims and paint her as a snob at the same time "We'll probably never know, we only have the publisher's word for it that it IS a man. Don't believe the hype my dear boy!" she smiled

Richard smiled back but was secretly furious "Well I know it is a man and a British one at that"

Miranda snorted "No you don't"

Richard continued "...DC Williams is a male British writer living and working in Cotswolds, Millstone to be precise and I know that doesn't fit in with the left wing intelligentsia's prejudices but there you have it....."

Back in Millstone the only noise was a sort of gasped squeak from Jenny. The women of the book group all looked at each other....now THIS was exciting