Written over nine decades ago, The Sheik retains its power to shock even today. Diana Mayo is young, beautiful, wealthy, and independent. Bored by the eligible bachelors and endless parties of the English aristocrats, she arranged for a trek through the Algerian desert.
Two days into the her adventure, she is kidnapped by the powerful Sheik Ahmed Ben-Hassan, who forces her into submission. Diana tries desparately to resist but finds herself falling in love with the dark and handsome stranger. What follows is a tale of mystery, power, and forbidden love fulfilled.
Diana endures days of sexual abuse before falling in love with her Middle Eastern captor:
"She understood perfectly the change that had taken place in her. She had never had any illusions about herself, and had never attempted to curb the obstinate self-will and haughty pride that had characterized her. She thought of it curiously, her mind going back over the last few months that had changed her whole life. The last mad freak for which she had paid so dearly had been the outcome of an arrogant determination to have her own way in the face of all protests and advice. And with a greater arrogance and a determination stronger than her own Ahmed Ben Hassan had tamed her as he tamed the magnificent horses that he rode. He had been brutal and merciless, using no half measures, forcing her to obedience by sheer strength of will and compelling a complete submission. She thought of how she had feared and hated him with passionate intensity, until the hatred had been swamped by love as passionate and as intense. She did not know why she loved him, she had never been able to analyse the passion that held her so strongly, but she knew deep down in her heart that it went now far past his mere physical beauty and superb animal strength. She loved him blindly with a love that had killed her pride and brought her to his feet humbly obedient. All the love that had lain dormant in her heart for years was given to him. Body and soul she belonged to him. And the change within her was patent in her face, the haughty expression in her eyes had turned to a tender wistfulness, with a curious gleam of expectancy that flickered in them perpetually; the little mutinous mouth had lost the scornful curve. And with the complete change in her expression she was far more beautiful now than she had ever been."
The Sheik is credited with starting the "desert-romance" genre. But it also paved the way for countless erotic classics with its daring prose. Today it has largely been forgotten and even the classic 1921 movie is now rarely seen. Fortunately, The Sheik has been remastered and reformatted for Kindle, with illustrations and a fully functionally Table of Contents for seamless navigation. Here it is, E.B. Hull's erotic masterpiece, for the special low price of 99c.
About the Author: E. M. Hull was the pseudonym of Edith Maude Winstanley Hull, née Henderson (b. 16 August 1880 - d. 11 February 1947) was a British writer of eight romance novels from 1919 to 1939, best known for being the author of the novel The Sheik which became an international best seller in 1921. This novel is credited with starting the hugely popular "desert-romance" genre. Hull followed The Sheik with subsequent novels The Shadow of the East, The Desert Healer, and The Sons of the Sheik.
