Hailed as one of the most notorious erotic novels of all times, Story of O follows the beautiful young Parisian woman as she falls into the fateful clutches of her lover’s sadomasochistic urges. She submits to the life of a slave and surrenders herself completely to the terrifying bonds of desire. The book was written in 1954 by the French author Anne Desclos under the nom de plume of Pauline Réage and in 2000 it was illustrated by the Italian comics artist Guido Crepax.

‘Keep me rather in this cage, and feed me sparingly, if you dare. Anything that brings me closer to illness and the edge of death makes me more faithful. It is only when you make me suffer that I feel safe and secure. You should never have agreed to be a god for me if you were afraid to assume the duties of a god, and we all know that they are not as tender as all that. You have already seen me cry. Now you must learn to relish my tears.’