TOP DRAWER
friends of mine act out scenes to make sure that the choreography works. I tried a few of the more extreme things in the book on myself, without wishing to go into too much detail.
Five landmarks
Getting into Oxford; seeing Venice for the first time; birth of my daughter Ottavia; publishing my first book; eating my first oyster. Perfect vacation Boat, island, no Wifi Luxury is... Coco Chanel said elegance is refusal. Luxury is refusing anything but the most refined of its kind.
Dream holiday spot
Patmos in the Mediterranean
Most indulgent purchase ever
A sequined dress from Yves Saint Laurent
Favourite hotel
The Gritti Palace in Venice; best view on the planet.
Most prized possession
A box of letters from my daughter which has cards and drawings.
Foodie haven
Delhi. I have tasted food here that I’ve never tasted before.
Book worth re-reading
The Pursuit of Love
Fashion brand of choice
Isabel Marant and Balenciaga
Favourite authors of Indian origin
Anita Desai, VS Naipul, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie
Erotic Art COMPARISONS WITH E L JAMES AND THE GREY TRILOGY
If my book produces half as much pleasure in the world as EL James then I am very glad at the comparison. Personally, I’ve only just read the first one, and that’s because I was getting paid to; I think it’s unutterable rubbish. Fifty Shades of Grey is a story about a virgin who falls in love with a powerful older man; it’s Cinderella. Maestra is not a love story, there is no prince charming, there is no happy ending. So I feel sorry for people who enjoyed Fifty Shades
of Grey, who bought my book because of that one comparison that a journalist made. We tried very hard to avoid any associations with the trilogy but I got angry letters from a lady saying “your book is an insult to E L James”. We liked her statement so much, we put it on the book.
THE DRAW
Maestra and Domina deal with all the really important themes in literature: sex, murder and shoes. And because it’s a book for both men and women—it’s fast paced, glamorous and it aims to transport you.