History Of A Pleasure Seeker

BOOK: History Of A Pleasure Seeker: A Novel

AUTHOR: Richard Mason

GRADE: A-

Thankfully for the eager reader, Richard Mason’s sophomore novel is as erotically tinged as the title suggests. It will surely have you lustily turning the pages in hopes of more goodness. That being said, the beauty in “History Of A Pleasure Seeker” is the fact that Mason’s superb writing turns what could have been a work of sheer erotica into a discussion of class struggles, friendship, childhood mental illness and adventure.

The year is 1907. The setting is Amsterdam and the pleasure seeking in question is the ambitious young Piet Barol. After growing up the son of a university professor father and singing teacher mother, Mr. Barol sets out for a better life. Or world dominion – if you will. Armed with his father’s lessons in intellect and his mother’s teachings in social charm; Piet Barol has always had a knack for getting what he wants. And now, what he wants is to move up on the social ladder. His plan: securing a job as the tutor to the troubled son of Europe’s leading hotelier.

This he achieves by charming the pants off the lady of the house (not literally, that will come later in the book). Despite the fact that he resides in the servant’s quarters; Barol is sure of his ability to infiltrate the family. First, he has to win over the confidence of their only son – a boy with incredible smarts but even more incredible internal demons. Young Egbert refuses to leave the house, won’t eat with the family, has endless rituals to ward off the voices in his head and is generally a giant disappointment to his father. Barol’s job lies not so much in tutoring the boy, but in curing him.

Can he reach the unreachable and save the boy from himself? Can he rise in the ranks of the family? What about the lady of house and him – will their love affair cause disaster? What will become of Piet after disaster forces him to flee the house? The answers to these questions will keep you chomping at the bit for more. The ending will not leave you disappointed and the book will keep you fondly remembering scenes for weeks. I give this my complete recommendation.