A Stranger’s Touch by Anne Brooke

Title: A Stranger’s Touch
Author: Anne Brooke
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

Male prostitute, Red, is given an assignment by his pimp and lover, Robbie, with a very unusual client. Red meets the stranger in a darkened house in London and, during their sessions, he learns more than he ever knew about lust, love and his own personal history.

How will his curious and life-enhancing encounters with the stranger affect his relationship with Robbie and his clients, and can love ever be part of a hooker’s life at all?

Review:

This is a short story with wonderful writing that you most definitely have to look below the surface to understand. I have my own personal understanding of the story, but whether that’s what other people will see or what the author meant for readers to see, I can’t say for sure. I have to admit that I had to read this story more than once. After my first reading I was slightly confused and unsure about what I’d just read, but luckily I liked the story enough to read through it again to try to uncover the real meaning.

Red is a prostitute who is controlled by his insatiable lust. He’s also in a relationship of sorts with his pimp Robbie. This pairing is the perfect setup for Red, whose need for sex overwhelms him. He is relieved to be able to hand over control of his sexuality to someone he trusts. The story focuses on Red’s meetings with a new client, a stranger who is never named or described. Over the course of three Saturdays, the stranger makes a profound impact on Red through simple touch.

A Stranger’s Touch is a very different short story, which takes readers in a very unexpected direction. The writing flows quite well and pulls the reader in, and despite how much is left unanswered, it’s difficult to put the story down. With such a short story, in depth characterization isn’t easy, but the one we learn the most about is of course Red. It’s easy to accept Red as a sex-obsessed man who doesn’t sugarcoat his job or his life. There are hints that Robbie truly cares for Red, and it’s left to the reader’s imagination as to what happens between these two after the events of the story. The stranger is truly an enigma from start to finish, which I’m sure is quite intentional.

This story has a very different approach than many stories that feature a prostitute. Red likes his job, craves the sex he has with clients, and has no intention of stopping or being “reformed.” The stranger is not there to convince Red to change his ways, but to release him from the control of the forces of his lust and history so that he can be truly happy with his life and experience pure pleasure. While all of that worked for me, what didn’t ring true was the sexual encounter that takes place between Red and the stranger near the end. It’s definitely an erotic scene, but it seemed to detract from the real reason behind the stranger’s meetings with Red. So much is imparted through the stranger’s touch alone, it would have felt more powerful to me if the two parted without any sexual contact whatsoever.

There is a hint of the paranormal to the story with the character of the stranger and how he has singled out Red. As it’s not the real focus of the story, this element is not developed and really is just a small thread of the story. There is no explanation given for the character and his motives, which some readers might find frustrating, but these details would have simply detracted from the story of Red and the path he is on.

This is most definitely a story that will leave you wondering, with a different and intriguing premise encapsulated in a short, well-written tale. After reading this, I will definitely be looking for other stories by Brooke.