Pulses race as shops open early for ‘Fifty Shades’

BOOK shops are set to throw open their doors early this morning in anticipation of a run on the latest ‘Fifty Shades’ book, which hits the shelves worldwide today, writes Breda Heffernan.

Eason’s flagship outlet on O’Connell Street in Dublin will open at 7.30am while its Belfast store will open at 7am as the bookseller prepares for a flood of customers for ‘Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian’.

Eason said it has been “inundated” with pre-orders for the title, which has the highest number of pre-orders for any book in the history of Eason. However, the bookseller refused to put a figure on the number of pre-orders.

‘Grey’ is the latest title from EL James, whose ‘Fifty Shades’ trilogy was a publishing phenomenon, shifting more than 125 million copies worldwide.

Knowing how to satisfy her loyal audience, the author, whose husband Niall Leonard hails from Newry, Co Down, re-tells her original book but this time from the perspective of billionaire Christian Grey.

Often described as “mummy porn”, the first of the trilogy’s books has already been turned into a movie, with further films planned.