Exit to Eden
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"'You know,' I went on, 'racks and whips, and harnesses and chains. Gloves, corsets. Were you ever threatened with a rack when you were a kid? Did anybody ever make you a wear a pair of handcuffs? I was never even slapped. These things don't come from childhood; they come from our historic past. They come from our racial past. The whole bloody lineage that embraces violence since time immemorial. They are the seductive and terrifying symbols of cruelties that were routine right up through the eighteenth century.'"--Exit to Eden (1985) by Anne Rice |
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Exit to Eden is a novel by Anne Rice, initially published in 1985 under the pen name Anne Rampling, but subsequently under Rice's name.
The novel explores the subject of BDSM in romance novel form. The novel also brought attention to Rice's published works that differed from the type of writing she was better known for (e.g. Interview with the Vampire), such as her Sleeping Beauty series under yet another pen name. Additionally, a film adaptation in 1994 differed greatly from the book, with a new major story line and several new characters added.
Plot summary
Lisa Kelly manages an isolated BDSM resort called The Club that offers its high-end clients an exclusive setting in which they can experience the life of a Master or Mistress. Prospective sex slaves, paid at the end of their term at Eden (which varies from six months to two years), are presented at auctions by the most respected Trainers from across the world. As Head Female Trainer and co-founder Kelly gets first pick of the new slaves, and chooses Elliot Slater -- with whom she shares an immediate and undeniable chemistry that intensifies throughout their time together, eventually resulting in love.
Release details
- 1985, USA, Arbor House Pub (ISBN 0-87795-609-X), Pub date ? May 1985, hardback (First edition)
- 1988, USA, Time Warner Paperbacks (ISBN 0-7088-3000-5), Pub date 1 November 1988, paperback
- 1994, USA, Dell Publishing (ISBN 0-440-12392-5), Pub date ? October 1994, paperback (film tie-in edition)
- 1996, USA, Ballantine Books (ISBN 0-345-40196-4), Pub date ? February 1996, paperback
- 1998, USA, Severn House Publishers (ISBN 0-7278-5341-4), Pub date ? May 1998, hardback
Film adaptation
A film version was produced by Savoy Pictures in 1994 starring Dana Delany and Paul Mercurio in the roles of Elliot and Lisa, but was heavily rewritten by the studio as a buddy-cop comedy, using new characters played by Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell. The film was almost universally panned by critics and Rice publicly disassociated herself from the production.
