Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair

By Elizabeth McNeill

The classic erotic memoir of an intense and haunting relationship that spawned the film.

This is a love story so unusual, so passionate, and so extreme in its psychology and sexuality that it takes the reader’s breath away. Unlike The Story of O, Nine and a Half Weeks is not a novel or fantasy; it is a true account of an episode in the life of a real woman.

Elizabeth McNeill was an executive for a large corporation when she began an affair with a man she met casually. From the beginning, their sexual excitement escalates through domination and humiliation. As the affair progresses, woman and man play out ever more dangerous and more elaborate sado-masochistic variations. By the end, she has relinquished all control over her body and mind.

With a cool detachment that makes the experiences and sensations she describes all the more frightening in their intensity, Elizabeth McNeill beautifully unfolds her story and invites you to experience the mesmerizing, electrifying, and unforgettablly private world of Nine and a Half Weeks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jul 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780062309990

Elizabeth McNeill

Elizabeth McNeill is a pseudonym for Ingeborg Day, author of the memoir Ghost Waltz. She was an editor at Ms. magazine when both books were published. She died in 2011 at the age of seventy.

Reviews for Nine and a Half Weeks

[Jermecia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved the movie with actor Mickey Rourke. After discovering this was based on a true story, i decided to read the book. The book is more in depth about their love affair compared to the movie. But both the movie and book were good. The ending to this story will forever stay in my mind and the events that she experienced during the love affair. This could happen to any woman.

[bbcummings · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Curious as to the BDSM trend in recent years and the popularity of these titles, I decided to read this book (after being disappointed with 50 shades). Keep in mind that this a true story (memoir).

What I found remarkable overall was the candid voice of the narrator, her honest, at times quite rational, explanation of her experiences, without regard to the shock and condemnation she risks eliciting in the reader. The fact that this was written in the mid seventies makes her 'I don't care how you perceive me' attitude all the more admirable. Her prose, although at times erratic, is for the most part poetic and impassioned. One cannot escape the feeling that she is writing this for herself, searching for whatever is inside her to have made her submissive love affair so all consuming.

I also was intrigued with the way she presented her lover, whose name we never learn, and who is only exposed through his habits and his short dialogues. An in-depth profile of him is also cleverly presented when she rummages through his doors and describes his clothes and possessions, a potent method of giving a stark picture of him and adding depth to his persona.

During the course of their relationship, she comes to a personal revelation that her submission is liberating, resulting in an unmatched satisfaction and euphoria. Her emotional breakdown at the end is not surprising given that the author has had previous bouts of depression, and the trigger could have been the realization that she will never experience something so intense again.

[caroline77_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The most fucked-up book I've ever read. I can't say I recommend it. At the same time, it was interesting from the psychological perspective.

[bookofsecrets · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This review contains some spoilers. I loved this book, so it was hard for me to shut up about it!

Nine and a Half Weeks is a memoir of a brief but intense sadomasochist love affair between the book’s author and narrator Elizabeth McNeill (a pseudonym) and a man she met at a New York City street fair, only referred to as “he”. The events in the book take place in the 1970s when Elizabeth was an executive for a large corporation. During her daytime hours she is an independent, successful, liberated woman, while at night she relinquishes her control to him and longs to be dominated, hurt, and helpless.

The glimpses of their relationship that Elizabeth shares with us are fascinating. She tells us in one chapter everything he did for her. He cooked all the meals, fed her, bathed her, dressed her, brushed her hair, took care of her laundry, lit and helped her smoke cigarettes, turned the pages of her book, and yes, even inserted and removed her tampons. In the next chapter, she shares what she did: nothing. She spent most of her evenings handcuffed or tied to the table, so he HAD to do everything. He was in complete control, and her response was, “I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.” He slapped her, beat her, humiliated her, and she only craved more.

What is most intriguing about Elizabeth was that she admits reading The Story of O years before and being “horrified and repulsed” by the sadomasochism. It makes me wonder how she slipped so easily, so quickly into the same type of relationship she was disgusted by. Was she simply not aware of her innermost desires? How easy would it be for any of us to lose ourselves completely in such an affair?

Though to many their relationship may seem extreme, even unhealthy, I truly believe they had a deep love for each other. She goes into great detail about how he took care of her when she had the flu. They enjoyed each other’s company, talked for hours about various subjects, became friends as well as kinky lovers. They were content to pass the time alone in his apartment as life in the rest of the world went on without them.

Toward the end of the two months, the affair had completely consumed Elizabeth, turning her into someone her former self would never recognize. She contemplates just how far she is willing to go for him and wonders if he will eventually kill her. She thinks the answer is no, because it would be too difficult for him to find another her. So what is it that shocks her back into reality? A few drops of blood on his sheets. Seeing her own blood spilled pushes her over the edge into a mental breakdown.

This was a difficult review to write. I loved the book, but putting my feelings into words had me stumped. It is the kind of story that will stay with me for a long time. The ending is a sad one, at least to me. Elizabeth’s experiences with this man completely changed her to where she wonders “whether my body will ever again register above lukewarm.” What a depressing way to think about the future. One of the reasons I love this book is that it reads like a novel, not a memoir. I had to keep reminding myself that perhaps this extraordinary relationship was real at one time. Nine and a Half Weeks was a quick read – just 117 pages. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in BDSM relationships. If still alive today, they would probably be in their sixties. I wonder what became of them.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a short erotic novel that chronicles the downfall of a woman who falls in love with a man who wins her over with his elaborate love making techniques that became more violent as the relationship continued.

[raggedtig · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book if you're into obsession and sexual addiction. This woman was so caught up in this man that she didn't mind the abuse he was giving her. Again, a book where the movie showed it no justice (this coming from a fan of the movie). I kinda felt sorry for her in the end of the book, but then again, she brought it all on herself. Read it.

[coffeesucker · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not as good as the movie - which wasn't that great either.

[vampyredhead · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't really remember this. I read it when I was a teenager, years ago. I do remember it being fun and very perverted. Not for the prudish. Completely different from the movie.