VENUS IN FURS in Nana's library

After nine days I was at last released from the hospital and taken at once to Nana's house to recover.  Nana had a big house and was always there so it made sense.  Nana was my dad's mother and was a devout Seventh Day Adventist.  Since my father was a devout atheist, Nana didn't say much about her religion when he was around but she loved to talk about it with me.  The golden streets of Heaven where only white Southerners resided.  The Lord sitting on a golden throne surrounded by winged angels playing golden harps. (Lots of gold in Heaven.)  Since I was confined to bed, I could not escape.  Sometimes Eva, Nana's sister-in-law, came over.  Dear Eva had a fine sense of the dramatic as she appeared at my bedroom door, hands crossed on her breasts and intoned,

"I have been speaking to God!"

I was dying to ask if God had answered, but I dared not. Aunt Eva had certainly piqued my interest.  There followed a long, rather fevered conversation between Nana and Eva which appeared to trash Yankees, Negroes, Jews, foreigners, Italians and the Holy Catholic Church which was the Whore of Babylon.  I felt the need to take issue with this characterization of the Church, now that I was old enough to know what "whore" meant. 

"Nana, Aunt Eva, since I AM a Catholic, I can't let you call the Church a --"

"Linda, do not say that word aloud.  My dear, you are but a child and you do not understand the evils of the world--the depravity, the decadence, the disgusting...."

"EVA!" cried Nana, laughing nervously. "Linda is recovering from surgery.  Perhaps now is not the time to....to discuss depravity."

Eva rose immediately, her face flushed and her eyes very bright indeed.  "Well, on to Maas Brothers then.  I need new foundation garments.  And a hairnet."

When the sisters of charity had driven away, I carefully got out of bed, poured myself a glass of iced tea and explored Nana's bookcase.  A thick layer of dust covered all the ancient tomes and I knew then that Nana and my step-grandfather were not big readers.  All the books looked boring, but then I saw a title I had heard of...It couldn't be....

Venus in Furs by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch.  The man for whom masochism was named!  Good grief, how could this be?  Did Nana even know this book was here?  It must belong to Roy, her sweet little old husband who was in Kiwanis.  What would he be doing with a book about whips and bondage?  Of course, he was pretty submissive....I began to read.

OMG!

"Linda, I'm home.  Did you take a little nap while I was gone?" she trilled.

I was speechless.  I just sat there with the book in my hand.  "What are you reading, dear?"  Nana took the book from my hand and looked at it closely.

"This is a dirty book!  Where did you get this filth?"

"Out of your bookcase!"

We shall draw the curtain of charity over this

poignant little scene.