When Nora, a withdrawn American teenager, is sent to live with relatives in Turin, she meets Nicola, the enigmatic son of the most powerful aristocratic family in Italy. Years later, the two reconnect in New York and begin a heated affair. Propelled by disorienting desire, Nora quickly becomes entangled in Nicola's insular, menacing world of old-world luxury and family secrets. When she suspects she's being used in a secret plot to overthrow his corrupt father, Nora willfully turns submissive to Nicola, pushing against the boundaries of her own moral limits until she finds herself spiraling on a path of self-destruction.
There is much to admire in the way Dektar delves headlong into this delayed adolescence ... It’s a riveting thing, desire; The Absolutes asks you to consider what matters more: the moment the stone is dropped into the pool or the ripples that spread across the surface long after the stone has sunk out of sight. Either answer could be right.
The book lives inside Nora’s perceptions, which after a while become as redundant as the sex itself. Perfect for those who like a soupçon of Wittgenstein and a dollop of Meister Eckhart with their sadomasochism.
