Posted by Unknown on 23rd Apr 2010

Carly On Her Knees by Lizbeth Dusseau
Reviewed by Tobias Tanner

Capture, torture, sexual release, the mantra of Carly's deepest fantasies, and she knows what she wants. It doesn't matter to her so much about how these three things are worked out, and she doesn't get it all the time, but when she does…well, she does! The question, however, is why. In the most puerile sense, there is plenty of the how, and how. Bound, gagged, crawling, wriggling, beaten, raped, publicly humiliated, and so much more, is all about the how.

We find ourselves liking her, however, and when that happens, the reader begins to look for deeper meanings in the author's work. And they abound in this book, for those who care to seek them. Here, we find an orphan, a child of diplomats, raised as a flower in humanity's garden—meant to bloom and be noticed, to be the center of attention, to please the crowd. But, at 22, she is alone, with money enough to do what she wants, and connections in Europe and the United States to stay in touch with those figures in power who are most familiar to her. She is comfortable with such people; especially when they choose to make her uncomfortable—very uncomfortable.

Carly is attracted to power, and to older people, grown-ups, in fact. Men and women alike find in her a willing submissive who responds deeply to control, to pain, to humiliation, to bondage. Each uses her for their own purposes, putting her at risk, manipulating the vulnerability that makes her so desirable. Tragedy strikes, as it inevitably does in these circumstances, and Carly finds herself out of the frying pan and into the fire, so to speak.

In the fire, however, is the answer she has sought all along, an answer to the question she never asked. What does she want? Beyond the tactile inputs, where is happiness for a young woman who has lost everything (not once, but twice!!!)? The fact is that what she really wants is a light in the window, a warm, welcoming home, and love. And she is desperately seeking a replacement for her lost family, to fill the empty space in her heart once filled by her parents, and then by her murdered husband.

She seeks the mother and father figures, and the sense of order and discipline that loving, responsible, thoughtful people give any child. Does she find it? Well, you be the judge, and pardon the pun. Read on. You'll get the little joke later on.