Her Eight of Cups
by Leah Derry

Release Date: 22nd May 2007
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 978 1 4303 2107 1
RRP: £3.95

A self-published story broaching the taboo subject of relations between teacher and pupil

Leah Derry is a self-published author, which makes her either unassailable or pigheaded, or possibly both. Her Eight of Cups is a perplexing, potentially inflammatory, occasionally strange and with definite strains of the surreal novella about the complexities and addictiveness of illicit affairs between teacher and pupil.

To attempt to write anything fictional on such a taboo and emotive subject takes some guts, but to indulge in disturbingly erotic fantasies about such relationships to the point where one is not certain whether the author condones or passively accepts such conduct is perhaps verging on a step too far.

Certainly, this is not made for mass appeal. That said, there is a gritty, real fervour with which Derry draws us into the world of two different women, both deeply dissatisfied with their lives, both having fallen into tangible relationships with fresh-faced teenage boys... at least one supposes they are teenage – age not being a detail felt necessary to expound on. Derry does not directly ask us to question the motives, the appropriateness or the morality of these women’s decisions; but rather focuses on the instinctiveness and inevitability of their actions. One senses that we are seeing with our own eyes how unrestrained feral lust takes over common sense and propriety.

Derry’s raw and unforgiving writing style and highly provocative subject matter make this an intellectually intriguing read. Our preconceptions are challenged and although the issue is treated with more nicety (there appear to be no consequences to their actions) than I would normally feel comfortable with – it does make us wonder how many of our amenable young teachers fantasise about their pupils – it is an issue at the heart of today’s society.
Had I sons, I would be watching their female teachers like a hawk from now on.

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