A book set in Courcheval, a bit of Frontside 3 and powder snow….

• Book: Clamped
• Location: Courchevel
• Author: David Blackwell

Review Author: Isabella Orff

I was so excited to find a book set in Courcheval! And it really does feel “set in”, whether it is Le Praz, 1650 or 1850, and lots of snow, and lots of boarding and skiing.
This is a “boys on tour” book, full of blokish things – plenty of references to crispy, smelly socks and underpants (and what is it with everybody going to the fridge and pouring a glass of milk when they are not getting hammered – is this the usual non alcoholic drink of choice in the Alps???). The story revolves around the Clamp of Omanaka (an ancient Peruvian pleasure implement) – the story meanders up to, and forays tentatively into the world of BDSM but never quite gets stuck in. Malevolent Malio and his cast of comic henchmen (his sons) ploughs on with his quest to be the sole owner of the Clamp. Hairdressers, posh boys, chalet minders and some predatory women, older women, ‘sweet’ young women all feature. It’s a romp through the snow, ok, it’s not the greatest work of literature in the world but you get a sense of the resort, it has its inspired moments and if you are heading out that way, then definitely give it a go. Some of the imagery is interesting, tho some I couldn’t connect with: for example, snow-covered pavements are “about as easy to walk on as a bowl of jelly full of golf balls” (I get what it is supposed to convey, but the analogy doesn’t kind of work for me). So, “The perfect trashy novel for your next Winter holiday” does what it says on the tin. Oh, and there is a reference to the perfect ingredients to enable a cake to rise at high alititude (which you may or may not know is problematic if you are baking!)but I don’t think the author ever shared what they might be, which was a disappointment – I will just have to keep baking, trial and error!!

Back to book