Smart move, Penguin Books: To capitalize on the runaway popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, on Thursday, the publishing company’s Plume imprint will re-release the 1980s “Sleeping Beauty” trilogy, a sexy series of novels written by famous author Anne Rice under the pen name A.N. Roquelaure. Just check out those sexy covers — stamped of course, with the phrase, ““If you liked 50 Shades of Grey, you’ll love the Sleeping Beauty trilogy.”
Here’s what they’re about, says the New York Times:
The “Sleeping Beauty” books were a graphic reimagining of the fairy tale, with Sleeping Beauty awakened in the opening pages by a prince who surprised her with more than a chaste kiss. (Ms. Rice, by then a well-known novelist, later revealed herself to be Roquelaure.)
Sales of the books have increased recently, even without the re-release. Plume will print 350,000 new copies of the books: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty’s Release, and Beauty’s Punishment. Rice told the Times that sexual liberation wasn’t exactly a buzzword on everyone’s lips back in the 1980s (hence the pen name). But how times have changed…
“Women have just as much right to pornography as men do, and I’m talking about literary porn, erotica,” she said. “If a woman wants to read about being overwhelmed by a pirate, that’s her right.”
Amen, sister!
[NY Times]
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I wont lie. I’ve read these books. They’re pretty out there.. but they’re pretty amazing.