This is a re-read more than once book. A great Fiction that takes place in the late thirties, to the 60's. I can't shorten the synopsis, but I can say it is a great read if you are not too "sophisticated" in your dark fiction. I initially came across this book at the American Women's Library in Aman Jordan back in 1999. A little room in a park clubhouse devoted to holding all the paperback novels donated by the American and British women who visit the country. A godsend for me while I was there.

It is Dark fiction; a young woman goes to her first party while visiting relatives in England but ends up being taken and auctioned off as a sexual slave. All a part of a (once every ten years?) ritual by a high ranking secret society. The auctioned off woman is held in sexual servituted by a length of time determined by how much money she fetched at auction. That money is held in a Swiss account until her release. The heroine in this book broke all the records by getting the biggest pay but having the longest stay...something like seven years.

For years she is held, in a gilded cage that doesn't allow her to leave the room and is attended by two brothers who were also captives and eunics -- punishment for being caught trying to steal.

They all escape taking with them one of the two babies she had by her captor. Her twins were born and the son was taken away---she never knew what happened to him. Her daughter was able to be taken when they escaped. They spend the rest of the book building a life and seeking out each member of the secret society that caused her captivity by abducting her from a party and holding the auction that sold her to the unknown man. She had never seen him because he blindfolded her for the years she spent with him.

Her biggest fear was being found and retaken, her biggest goal was to find and expose the secret society that every five years auctions off young unsuspecting women. How she goes about achieving her goals and her life during those years was what made the book so good.

It's a definite re-read for me..... ( )

I really loved this book. Ultimate revenge by a woman.

It's summer. So that means my staple summer reads get pulled off the book shelf. Belladonna by Karen Moline is just that.

As the front of the cover states, Belladonna is a story of revenge. It is told from the view of Tomasino and he tells the story of the 20-something year journey that leads a simple girl from the Midwest to become the famed Belladonna of New York's high society.

I first read this book about six years ago. I saw it at Barnes & Noble and the front of the cover intrigued me (I am one of those that picks books by covers...yes) and it was on sale, so I bought it. And I read it within two days. And have continued to read it every summer since.

Belladonna is an intriguing story and very risque. I once explained to my friend that it was like watching a Lifetime movie except you actually get the dirty details that are so often left out of those made for TV movies. Throughout the book, there are moments where you will laugh, cry, be scared, bite your nails, and get turned-on. Which, in my opinion, makes for an excellent summertime beach/pool read. ( )