History of a Pleasure Seeker

(Paperback)

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Description

'The adventures of adolescence had taught Piet Barol that he was extremely attractive to most women and to many men. He was old enough to be pragmatic about this advantage...'

It is 1907. The belle epoque is in full swing. Piet Barol has escaped the drabness of the provinces for the grandest mansion in Amsterdam. As tutor to the son of Europe's wealthiest hotelier, he learns the intimate secrets of this glittering family - and changes it forever.

With nothing but his exquisite looks and wit to rely on, he is determined to make a fortune of his own. But in the heady exhilaration of this new world, amid delights and temptations he has only dreamed of, Piet discovers that some of the liaisons he has cultivated are dangerous indeed.

Reviews

Rich in period detail and with requisite glittering trappings, it's the sex that is most carefully observed in Mason's lusty romp * Daily Mail *
Told with humour, charm, fine attention to detail and a healthy dose of eroticism * Independent on Sunday *
Sex is everywhere, both well described and very funny . . . an enthralling, perfectly paced romp that breathes new life into the picaresque genre * Observer *
A hugely accomplished novel - the story of Piet Barol, a young, provincial Dutchman and the social and sexual adventures he embarks upon in belle epoque Amsterdam * Independent, 50 Best Summer Reads *
Elegant, upholstered and, for all the sex, well-behaved * Times Literary Supplement *
A masterpiece. Like Henry James on Viagra. Gripping as hell . . . Piet was wonderfully drawn - rogueish and yet wholly sympathetic * Alex Preston, author of Winchelsea *
A sharply written story of love, money and erotic intrigue pulsing behind the staid canal fronts of nineteenth century Amsterdam. Mason's hero is amoral but irresistible. I was gripped till the very last page * Daisy Goodwin, screenwriter and author of The Fortune Hunter *
This elegantly plotted and witty tale unfolds in prose that is not just confident, but impressively stylish * The Lady *
Piet Barol is a dashing young man of the Belle Epoque who seduces his way into a life of decadence in this fast-paced historical page-turner * Easy Living *
Just try to resist . . . A Continental Downton Abbey plus sex, with a dash of Dangerous Liaisons tossed in * Seattle Times *
A gorgeous confection. . . . Piet is the rare character - the rare being - whose unfailing charm and luck only make us cheer him on more * The New York Times *
This book about pleasure is a provocative joy * O, The Oprah Magazine *
Terrific. . . . The best new work of fiction to cross my desk in many moons * Washington Post *
Think Balzac but lighter and sexier - an exquisitely laced corset of a novel with a sleek, modern zipper down the side * Marie Claire *
Superb. . . . [Mason's] gorgeous, precise descriptions mirror Amsterdam's singular combination of material opulence and Calvinist severity * Wall Street Journal *
[An] up-close mix of luxury, labor and longing - plus a country house's-worth of burbling romance * Los Angeles Times *
If Charles Dickens and Jane Austen had a love child who grew up reading nothing but Edith Wharton and Penthouse Forum - well, that person might be almost as wry, sexy, and knowing a writer as Richard Mason * Boston Globe *
A picaresque novel in the 18th-century tradition of John Cleland's Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure and Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones. . . . Piet is a charmer * Washington Times *
Exquisite. . . . A showcase for [Mason's] nimble writing, but also extends his storytelling prowess * Pittsburgh Tribune-Review *
An elegantly written, sexy novel * The Daily Beast *
[An] artful evocation of the European Belle poque * The New Yorker *
Edith Wharton would be impressed. . . . Lovely and rich * Entertainment Weekly *

Author Bio

Richard Mason was born in South Africa in 1978 to activist parents who settled in England when he was ten. Brought up and educated here, he wrote his first novel, THE DROWNING PEOPLE, whilst a 19-year-old at Oxford. In the intervening years, Richard finished his degree, then set up an educational charity in memory of his sister Kay. The Kay Mason Foundation provides scholarships to disadvantaged South African children.