Shameless
An art student who ends up a stripper to make ends meet. It is all going so well until one of her reluctant customers ends up being an instructor to one of her courses in college. These two worlds colliding are something I can totally relate to. I was never a stripper but I have walked on the wild side enough. This book’s premise touched a familiar nerve and I had to read it.I can tell you that if you like French culture, or Canadian culture for that matter, you will find some delights in this book. The author uses the landscape to add to this story. It felt at times like seeing something new, a vacation for me. I got to host a guest post for this author and she shows off some of the sights she mentions in the story. I loved looking at these after reading about them in the book. It gave me a better perspective of what the author was trying to show us in the city.
Although Hannah is a stripper, she is still a smart girl. She keeps her nose clean but not in an unrealistic kind of way. She is good. The love interest, Emmanuel, teaches a photography class. The author does a great job of describing the scene and then expounding on the picture.
The characters go back and forth about whether this love is worth the risk. He could loose his job, she could loose what little reputation she has forged in her college. Neither of the characters are devious enough to ruin the other. There are some shady players in the outfield though. Jealousy is a bitch. Things start happening to Hannah. Someone is out to ruin her. It almost breaks her and it was sad. I was on the fence about this book until I read this part.
My lip has un-swelled, almost normal except for a red mark of dried blood in the corner of my mouth. My bare face looks back from the mirror; I take in my whole reflection, my concave stomach, my collarbone, my nipples, my naked truth.
When I come out, the first thing I notice is the camera sitting on the counter in its leather case. I pick it up, my weak arms trembling with its weight. Sliding to the floor, I lean my forehead on the case and breathe in its metal-and-leather scent.
It’s the only proof I have that it all really happened, that I didn’t dream it or imagine it. Emmanuel, Quebec City, the moments of beauty and bitterness. It was mine, even if I lost it forever. And no one can take that away from me. I will always have it, always, etched on my mind like light and shadow on a photo film.
And that’s when I just know. It clicks in my head. I won’t let the world tell me who I am.
I will tell it first.
I shower, wash my hair, shave my legs. And I dive headfirst into my work.
My term project for the Traditional Photography class.
I just love a phoenix out of the ashes type of heroine. Life is rough, and I like someone who can pull though the bullshit and make the best out of a situation. I enjoyed this story. I didn’t like all the back and forth, I found it a bit frustrating. There was a lot on the line in this affair so I guess a bit of indecision was necessary. The actually story gave me warm feeling, but I had to get to the point of the girl being almost ruined for it to happen for me. There wasn’t anything bad about the story, it just didn’t have a big wow factor for me until then. I think this was a good story, it had enough to keep my attention and I really enjoyed the ending.
