| Guy Bellamy |
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The Nudists |
Martin, Secker & Warburg 1986. Penguin paperback 1987.
Despite its title, The Nudists isn't really about naturism at all. It is a novel about several couples and individuals, most of whom would be yuppies if they were more successful and single-minded about sheer materialistic acquisition. As it is, the less-rich aspire to that sort of achievement, but can't put quite enough enthusiasm into it. None the less, all these Thatcher's children have greater income and expenditure than average. This relative wealth allows the whole group to assemble at a private Spanish villa for the novel's middle section.
The title refers to the fact that, safe within the villa's grounds, several of the party decide not to bother with costumes for swimming and sunning. The rest (inevitably) gradually join in this communal nudity, but the shedding of inhibitions doesn't lead to greater relaxation. Instead, it fans the flames of sundry sexual tensions and attractions. For Guy Bellamy, social nudity always has an ultimately sexual objective, and the reader is never really allowed to forget it. I certainly don't object to sexual content in an adult novel, and Guy Bellamy writes this quite well, but I was disappointed that none of the characters simply found naked leisure enjoyable for its own sake. Even when there's an inkling of the simple pleasure of clothelessness, the next sentence drags one right back to the erotic aspect. Judge for yourself in these extracts.
Ratings:
| Nudity | Naturist nudity | A good read? |
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Last updated 2003 March 20.
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