I waited for as long as I possibly could before buying the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. I’m a bit of a ‘classics’ kind of girl and I tend to err away from the hype instead of entering into it, but I just couldn’t resist any longer with so many people reading and enjoying it, including my mum (oh dear god). So I went and bought the first book  – I made the giving in slightly less depraved by getting it half price along with a favourite I have wanted for a long time; Catilin Moran’s “How to be a woman”. And I must say it was interesting reading them both at the same time – one speaks of “Inner Goddesses” and being overpowered by a man, while the other discusses why women get bikini waxes, and why we are all obsessed with our weight.

Throughout the fifty shades book independent Ana battles with control freak Christian – not only in the bedroom does he expect her to adhere to a strict set of rules about food, working out and the way that she dresses. Throughout the books, however, she breaks this part of Christian and he eventually changes his ways, just for her, and they enter into a loving and committed relationship. Aaaa isn’t that sweet? Yeah, because every woman is secretly trying to change her man into an obedient, loving and attentive man, right? Sheesh.

Fifty Shades of Grey

And then comes the sex. As an open minded woman I wasn’t particularly shocked by any of the antics that quiet Ana and her damaged Christian got up to in the first books “red room of pain” – for anyone who hasn’t read the trilogy Ana meets a rich, gorgeous but damaged man and he introduces her to the ‘dark’ world of Sadomasochism, complete with whips and chains to boot.

I couldn’t help but wonder whether the general public were really that wanting of a good time that a simple book about a passionate sexual relationship was their only way out?

Since reading the books they have become even more successful, with a documentary also featuring on Channel 4 delving into the suburban writer, E L James, who penned the books as fanfiction for the teenage films Twilight. The documentary looked at the books as “housewife mummy porn” for bored housewives looked to spruce up their sex lives. It also looked at the growth in sex toy sales, with Ann Summers saying that some of their sales have tripled in areas like Liverpool and Manchester since the books became successful.

But why hadn’t these women been into Ann Summers of their own accord? Had they always been too shy and this book simply gave them the courage to realise that sex is no longer a taboo subject? Or had they genuinely always thought that “vanilla sex”, as it is coined i n the book, was all there was?

Don’t get me wrong, I am no sadomasochist, but that is my choice – I am aware of it but do not think it is suited to me. But speaking to friends about the book one thing became apparent – this book has made thinking about S and M acceptable, and more than that; celebrated!

I suppose that my first reaction to knowing that my mum wanted to read the book says it all- oh dear god no, you are not reading this, I don’t want to imagine you with this book and all of its implications!

One thing that can be said is that I have never known people to talk about sex so openly and so naturally. The trilogy seems to have empowered women to think about their desires and to ask for more from their partners – can that be a bad thing? Surely not.

It’s just a shame that the book leaves a lot to be desired in the literary stakes; for me the passion in classic books such as Jane Eyre is on a par with the passion of Fifty Shades of Grey, it is simply the sexual descriptions that are more. Could a book so beautifully written be as popular today? I have faith in the general public; I suppose it’s whether I have faith in today’s writers. Will anyone pick up that challenge?