A young Frenchwoman goes to work in a butcher's shop during her college vacation. Every day the butcher whispers obscenities in her ear, describing their imagined lovemaking. And as the summer heat takes hold, so does her lust. Here The Butcher is coupled with Reyes' second novella, Lucie's Long Voyage, which also features her irresistible blend of sensual earthiness and the dreamlike imagery of a fractured fairy tale.

At just fifteen years old, Lulu, a "round, hungry little girl," finds that her erotic cravings are already powerfully established when she is seduced by a family friend, Pablo, twelve years her senior. This initial encounter incites the violent power play that drives an adult Lulu through a series of increasingly titillating sexual exploits. Always fascinated by the thin line separating decency and morality from perversion, Lulu gains the courage to explore the darker side of her carnal desires--but as her forays become increasingly desperate, the world of illicit and dangerous sex threatens...

Lulu's journey begins with the night she loses her virginity to Pablo - her brother's best friend and twelve years her senior. Their appetites for new erotic territory are insatiable. Lulu's thirst for sexual discovery takes her through voyeurism and homoe