"There are two sides to every story," EL James promised. Now the record-breaking Fifty Shades of Grey author is to revisit the erotic trilogy with a new version, told from Christian Grey's point of view.
James announced via Instagram that 18 June, (the fictional Grey's birthday), would be marked by the publication of a new book, retelling the affair at the heart of 50 Shades from the perspective of the sadistic billionaire.
The original "mummy porn" books, which have sold 125 million copies, are written from the perspective of Anastasia Steele, a college graduate who submits to Grey's bondage-and-discipline fantasies.
Fan fiction writers have already extrapolated from James's novels with their own stories, told via Grey's eyes.
James said the new novel, titled simply Grey, published following the hit screen adaptation of 50 Shades, starring Jamie Dornan, was "dedicated to those readers who asked… and asked… and asked for this."
"Christian is a complex character and readers have always been fascinated by his desires and motivations and his troubled past," James wrote in a blog.
The new book will explore how his disciplined, ordered world came to be upended by Steele. "What is it about her that captivates him? Why can't he forget her? He is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot command and cannot resist," James wrote.
Grey, will be published simultaneously in the US and UK, by Penguin Random House. James's editor Anne Messitte said the new novel "has all the compelling attributes of its predecessors".
The publishers said the "secrecy and immediacy of the publication" meant that a huge in-store promotional campaign is hastily being put together for the June 18 publication date.
The Independent