Fantastic Story Collection, Oysters and Pearls, by Mitzi Szereto

I was so pleased that I have been able to get things going again with ebook loads into my reader... So happy that, when I read the two books that were submitted at two different times from Mitzi Szereto, I decided to do a spotlight on this author...

I can take or leave erotic stories; I have read a few books over the years but none caught my attention as did Oysters and Pearls: Collected Stories...

First because of the author's excellent storytelling... Second because of the breadth of  both the research and settings of the collection. In this one book, Szereto has taken us across the world into different lifestyles, religions, and times, as well as different personalities of her characters... What was very exciting to me was that the style of writing matched the type of story. For instance, in the first story, we meet a young Georgia girl who wants to act, but refuses to leave her home... she becomes enamoured with the lead in a vampire-themed

television series, but still we find the fresh innocence of a starlet encountering an experienced actor playing a vampire...but is he just acting?

~~~

The next story is funny, but probably could be oh so true, and will be an adventurous read for any wife whose husband has a particular love; e.g., sports for instance... This time it's BobDylan...

“It’s All Right, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”     

“Lay, lady, lay…” Oh, god, not again! That horrible nasal whine. Sounds like the man should blow his nose. “Lay across my…” I’ll give you brass beds. Maybe a nice brass bedpost to smash your head in with. Oh, bliss. Oh, silence. 
“Hon-ey, did you pick up my blue suit from the cleaners yet?” She sighs. Yet another thing she’s forgotten. Like the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes for the kids. She’ll catch hell tomorrow morning at breakfast. She can see their matching blue eyes, glaring at her in accusation. “M-a-a-a-h-h!”

~~~

In this very common story, we see the wife move forward into marriage...and then...toward finding herself again! By any way it Takes...Very Cool story!

~~~

Heading to Derbyshire, she looks for signs from the last time there, walking down Bakewell... getting one of the Bakewell puddings that are, oh, so delicious... then continues her tour enjoying being back, finally stopping for lunch in a pub when she sees...an old friend...who soon also enjoys that Bakewell pudding... They were both glad she'd come home...

~~~

Next we head to Kyoto, where a young woman travels alone, sees someone to whom she is attracted and...

~~~

We soon meet Mrs. Atropos, a lovely Greek lady who was a seamstress by trade... and a wife/widow by happenstance... She forgets how many times she's been married but never forgets the intimacy shared with each one...Loving each man, she always creates something beautiful for them to wear and presents it as a joyous gift of her feelings...only to many times have him wear it as his funeral suit...Yikes!

Most of all, she missed the sound of the bouzouki. Her husband Nicholas played the bouzouki, pulling the notes from the strings with all the virtuosity of an artist stroking paint onto canvas. Nicholas and his magic fingers. Mrs. Atropos smiled as she reached for the bundle of blue denim beside her, taking the next piece of what would, by the end of the day, become a brand new pair of jeans to be sold in the crowded alleys a few minutes away in the city’s downtown—the downtown for those on a budget or too poor to shop in nicer cleaner places like the pristine shopping malls with their pristine food courts and pristine people. Although soon she’d be lucky to even afford the alleys, for according to her boss Mr. Rodriguez, business had dropped off in the months since Mrs. Atropos arrived on the floor and layoffs at the factory were a possibility. Well, there was always another factory and another sewing machine and another bundle to be stitched together. She was a good worker; she’d sewn from the time she was at her mother’s knee.

~~~

Had to be enthused about a woman who had moved from the city into a log cabin. City life hadn't been helping her blood pressure, and moving to the top of a mountain, with a neighbor more than a mile away was turning out to be perfect for her... "Some might call it 'solitary.' I call it 'smart.' The less dealings you have with people the less trouble you're going to get."

But then outside noises started and she began to get worried...I soon began to feel quite happy that I've recently had ADT installed! LOL... Because there in that cabin, she started finding the cabin open and food missing! "My Zombie, My Lover" will answer anything you want to know more about this quite...strange...story...

~~~

When he finished, he'd look
up and see me reclining on
my side, nude. Like the
famous painting, he'd say,
The Odalisque.
I am his Odalisque...
~~~

Dubai! I will never have visited there like I did in the story, Odalisque... I'm sure you will guess the ending of this story, just like I did...
Do we have a future? I asked.
Inshallah, he answered. If Allah is willing. 
We'd go dancing--the Kasbar...where we'd rub up against each other like two cats in heat...Music thundering in our ears, lights flashing, no one watching and everyone watching...

~~~

I enjoyed all of the stories, but I must select Escape as my favorite!

Escape...     Night after night, day after day I wait. I wait for what I cannot avoid: the inevitable. I do not wish to marry him. He is old, and he is ugly. The flesh hangs from his neck and upper arms in mottled rolls; I dare not think of the rest of him! His teeth are the shade of rotting timber with holes riddled through by worms. His eyes rake over me with a familiarity that causes my body to flush with shame. It’s as if he has already tasted my flesh, smelled my scent. When I see him I want to curl up into a tight ball and hide. But hide I cannot. For Father has other plans. It is considered acceptable for pretty young women whose bodies retain the flush of youth to marry ancient trolls, but this is a fate I’m unwilling to bear...

It is wonderful to see and learn of a young girl who has been promised to an older reigning leader, who decides she will not fulfill this promise. And the way it is done is a story beyond belief, yet, is so very satisfying...I loved it!

~~~

I must stop discussing each individual story or I shall still be writing a long time since there are many other stories in the collection with a total of 17, all of which are quite lengthy and with a story that will entertain, delight, or surprise, especially the last one, which I'll just give the title...The Turnip...
Although I've read an anthology or two, I must say that I've never enjoyed the stories in any other collection as much as those within the book, Oysters and Pearls. While I do not mind explicit sexuality if it is totally within the storyline, I do caution that if you are not interested in erotica material, please don't buy it. Truthfully, I did not find anything beyond what I have read within adult romantic suspense books...With that clarification, I highly recommend this for your consideration...


GABixlerReviews



Please Note: Mitzi Szereto is being Spotlighted at this time--next with an article by the author, telling about how her next book came about... If you haven't already read the three previous posts, Click here and go back to the first where she is introduced...