Ecstasy of Brush Strokes, The

The Ecstasy of Brush Strokes is a sexy, intelligent and sometimes shockingly candid story, loaded with desire and obsession. It promises to be South Africa’s most erotic novel ever. Alex feels like a bad girl. Alex can’t sit still. She’s on the run from the men in her life. Especially her sexual soulmate, Nicholas. But mostly she’s trying to escape herself. Set in the Karoo during a relentlessly hot and steamy summer, Alex needs to get away from her claustrophobic marriage to dependable Mark and her ongoing obsession with her first love, Nicholas. She is a woman brooding on her sexual desires, both drawn to and repelled by her hunger. She tells herself she is on a quest to reawaken her urge to paint. But is she really? Once in the huge horizonless silence of the Karoo, Alex finds no inspiration in the rolling tumbleweed and dirty grey browns of her soulless landscapes. She longs to paint what she’s always ached for – passion and desire. She desperately needs to focus, forget the last time she saw Nicholas in that hotel – the way he took control of her body and her mind. Alone with just her fantasies and paintings, Alex is forced to self-reflect and come up with new plans. When the sultry Jessica arrives in the small town to join Pete, the swarthy-set builder, as her live nude models, things take on a whole new turn. The smell of desire mixed with thick oil paints creates a palette of sensuality in the studio in the Karoo. Erotic boundaries are pushed as a ménage of erotic encounters unfold. But as the web of sensuality and intrigue intensifies, Alex finds she is unable to forget Nicholas. No matter where she runs, he’s always under her skin. But can he give up his life in Canada and take a chance on Alex? Written by a well-known South African author who has decided to remain anonymous. Rachel Haze is the nom de plume she has chosen in order for her not to lose her reputation.