Its tag line is the “novel you will never forget” and having read it, Alan Shatter’s novel Laura is certainly that. Revolving around the character of Colette James, a secretary from Leinster House who has an affair with the TD and subsequently becomes pregnant, the novel deals with a couple who contest an adoption with the birth mother.
However, the real scandal with Laura wasn’t really the story, but more so the sex scene that occurred in Leinster House. The book as a whole, although mainly concerning the adoption issue, is not really what we were expecting, i.e there is far less sex than you could ever imagine. Here are the more “important” parts.
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1. This intro.
“Her inexperienced hands touched him so tentatively that every muscle in his body ached for fulfilment.”
2. Really, Alan Shatter wrote this.
“When he entered her, he knew it was her first time.”
3. This too vivid description for a Dail office.
“He moved slowly and she dug her fingers into his back, moaning and gasping for breath.”
4. Yes, in the Dail offices.
When she loosened her grip and her body relaxed, he knew he was going to erupt.”
5. Perhaps the line that will give you nightmares… *
“She gasped again as he pulled himself free of her and overflowed on her slender body.”
6. Get a good mental image there….
“They were lying on the carpeted floor of his office, the office in which Colette had been working for thirteen months.”
7. School tours will never be the same again.
“It was almost midnight and, except for the Gardai at the entrance gates, Leinster House was deserted.”
8. She has taken a lover.
“No one was there to witness Sean Brannigan and Colette James becoming lovers.”
9. TMI
“She knew that she had been foolish for not taking the necessary precautions herself, but Brannigan had assured her that he always withdrew in time and that she was not at risk.”
10. Just a little creepy?
“Sean Brannigan had travelled the same road before, but never with a secretary he had known since she was a small child.”
11. You STUD!
“He told himself (Sean Brannigan) that it was not his fault that the young secretaries around Leinster House were attracted to him.”
12. Try not to puke.
“Instead, he had allowed their relationship to evolve and mature slowly and now, as they lay silently besides each other, he knew that he had been right.”
*If you do in fact need therapy after that particular line, we cannot help you.
