Spring

December 14, 2015
Jackson’s third Pleasure Quartet novel comes as a disappointment after its more satisfying predecessor, Winter. It is overblown erotica, from the yonic iris on its cover to the narrative of two young women’s lives forever changed by the Ball, a legendary, secretive orgy. Moana and Iris, best friends and lovers, attend the event after a recommendation from Iris’s grandmother Joan, who was once linked to the Ball. After Joan’s death, they follow her advice to move from New Zealand to a tiny London flat. Iris devastates Moana by taking up with a wealthy young man who sees the submissive in her that Moana missed. Moana follows a more dissatisfied trajectory when she discovers Joan’s diaries from the 1920s–40s—in which she chronicled her work as a prostitute, a career she reluctantly took on due to financial need—and decides to use them as a sexual blueprint. Though the diaries are the book’s most intriguing aspect, Moana’s use of another woman’s coerced experiences as a template manages to be lurid and decidedly unsexy. Agent: Sarah Such, Sarah Such Literary Agency.

Starred review from January 1, 2016

Moana Irving and Iris Lark have had a unique connection since childhood, drawn together by their refusal to follow the restrictive bonds of their Catholic school in New Zealand and by something sensual and unspoken. Iris's free-spirited grandmother Joan further spurs their wild desires, regaling the girls with tales of the seductive, mystic traveling Ball with which she spent most of her life performing. When the pair are nominated by Joan to work the event, Moana and Iris undergo a transformative experience wherein Moana declares her love for Iris but is uncertain that her feelings are returned. Moana's fears are realized when the two move to London--Iris takes a male lover, and the shifting desires of the two women draw them even farther apart. Once Iris fades from her life, Moana embarks on a difficult journey toward understanding her sexual appetites, through friends and lovers alike, until the mythical Ball brings the women together once again. London duo Jackson have penned another erotic hit, blending naughtiness and melancholy with striking, beautiful prose. VERDICT Various depictions of diverse couplings (including m/f, m/m, and f/f/m) and BDSM play are woven with Moana's tale of sexual self-discovery; a subplot involving Joan's diary provides a touch of historical romance and mystery. Fans of steamy sex scenes laced with magic realism will thoroughly enjoy this "Pleasure Quartet" addition.

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