Serving Fumiko... Plus-1

A two-book anthology of female-led fiction, describing manipulative psychological warfare between the genders, opens with Merrick Scanlon's "Serving Fumiko".

Read on as Mr Scanlon gives us the story of a hapless recently released UK felon who, as a condition of his release, accepts the employment offered him by the probation-officer into whose supervision he is released. A probation-officer who finds him a live-in position with a wealthy younger woman who shares her Japanese heritage – along with something far more sinister… Something sinister that is likely to have far reaching ramifications for the recently released older Englishman… At least if he does not wish to be returned to prison to finish the rest of what had been a terrifying sentence!

Next up is Spencer Haskell's "Ms Hasekura", as an ageing "Player", about to be divorced and kicked from his home by a young and wealthier wife, finds himself offered a lifeline by the equally wealthy neighbour opposite who remains a friend of his estranged partner… And no… That lifeline, despite what his ego tells him, will not involve his becoming her live-in lover – at least not in the way his vanity describes to him; though it will involve him living in… As well as a trip to her native Japan at her side… A most informative trip that will not see him return as the same man… Or a man at all, come to that!

Female-led fiction of a decadent and psychological nature for those readers who prefer to use their imaginations with the help of character-driven narratives and believable plotlines.