Birthday Present and Other Stories

Five tales of denial, devotion, and erotic control - each one different, but each an unmistakable statement from the world of Anna Voss, where male submission and denial is not just expected, but inevitable."e;Under the Typewriter Keys"e; twists gothic horror into Locktober tease, a haunted machine binding its victim with contracts he can never escape;The propaganda piece "e;Why I Vote NVLA"e; offers a glimpse of Voss's notorious dystopia exposed in On Chestnut Tree Lane - this time as a housewife praises the regime that tracks male misery by the millilitre;"e;The Keys to His New Home"e; shows how a simple mishap with a package delivery draws a young man into his neighbour's teasing arms - and unlocks a whole new life of helplessly devoted servitude;The short story "e;Life at the Post"e; returns again to the NVLA - and to a man who has found a twisted kind of pleasure, serving his community the only way he can;And in the eponymous novella "e;The Birthday Present"e;, a young tenant's attraction to his landlady transforms into a future of devotion he could never have anticipated as he finds out just how deeply she has planned his surrender. Spanning gothic horror, political satire, domestic fantasy, and long-term devotion, this collection shows every facet of Voss's style: lush, merciless, literate femdom where female pleasure is paramount, and male denial is destiny.