‘Pension porn’ novel outstrips 50 Shades

Ignored by reviewers when first published last year and given neither promotion nor publicity, an unknown writer has shot to the top of Amazon’s fiction charts with a book which could be described as “pension porn”.

Following hot on the heels of bondage book 50 Shades of Grey, which has sold 40 million copies worldwide and has been dubbed “mommy porn”, another saucy tale has crept up the charts.

British author Hilary Boyd’s Thursdays in The Park features a 60-something who meets the man of her dreams while watching her grandchildren in the park.

She struggles with the dilemma of having a husband who has withdrawn from the marital bed and the temptation of life with a new partner.

Ms Boyd, a 62-year-old grand-mother, said: “Old people fall-ing in love and having passionate relationships is not a story that’s had much exposure before, but I’m in no doubt the market’s out there.”

Referring to Fifty Shades of Grey, the story of a masochistic relationship between a billionaire and a naïve student, Ms Boyd added: “I’ve no idea at all who’s buying it. Not a clue. All I can say is that sex in the park beats sex in the basement.”

Thursdays in The Park sold only 1,000 copies when was first published last year by independent imprint Quercus.

However, the ebook edition has caught fire, outselling even 50 Shades.

Ms Boyd acknowledges her book as being “gran lit”. She said she wanted to write Thursdays in The Park as “older couples are often portrayed by the likes of Hyacinth Bucket and Richard, or Victor Meldrew and his long-suffering wife, Margaret. They bicker and tolerate each other, but they aren’t — God forbid — sexy.”

The reviews have been positive, despite one Daily Telegraph writer describing the book as Kama Sutra meets Antique Roadshow.

Meanwhile, a high-flying banker in London has filed for divorce because she felt her husband was boring after he refused to spice things up in the bedroom.

The woman, 42, even mentioned Fifty Shades in her divorce petition. The dissatisfied wife’s solicitor says the woman was fed up when her husband resisted her overtures to “make things more interesting” in their love life. He blamed the novel, saying: “It’s all because you have been reading that bloody book.”

The woman’s solicitor said: “It used to be the men who complained they weren’t getting enough nookie. But now it’s the women who are calling their husbands boring after reading books like Fifty Shades.”