LOVE FOR LIVRES

0610

The story is the first-person narrative of a fictional character named Michel Renault, a Parisian civil servant who, after the death of his father, engages in sexual tourism in Thailand, where he meets a travel agent named Valérie. Valerie and Renault begin an affair, and, after moving back to France, hatch a plan with Valerie's boss (who works in the travel industry in the Aurore group, an allusion to the real-life Accor group) to launch a new variety of package holiday called friendly tourism and implicitly or explicitly aimed at Europeans looking for a sexual experience whilst on vacation. Single men and women - and even couples - would be targeted, and would vacation in specially designed Aphrodite Clubs.Initially, the name Venus clubs was suggested but rejected as being too explicit - an allusion to the Villa Venus clubs dreamed of by Eric Veen in Vladimir Nabokov's classic Ada or Ardor. It is decided that Thailand is the best location for the new clubs, with the advertising making it clear that Thai women would also be easily available. The tours will be marketed predominantly to German consumers, as it is perceived that there would be less moral outrage in Germany than in France.