Reviving such an old thread has an almost ghoulish quality. But O is ageless, even if her author, Dominique Aury, died some years ago, her lifelong secret revealed to all.

I owe her my first conscious BDSM thrills, even though it is not at all a BDSM book. This link gives some interesting trivia and pictures.

http://www.storyofo.co.uk/Origins.html

My own interest in this thread, however, resides in the mention of l'Image (The Image). This one IS a BDSM book, much 'harder' than O, yet with a very good literary quality. This is not surprising - the writer, Jean de Berg, is in fact Jeanne de Berg, well-known Mistress and real-life wife of Alain Robbe-Grillet. Many of its themes (such as the use of photographs in the narrative) and much of its style indicate, to me, that the Master had more than a hand in writing it. (It is customary to call an established French writer 'Maître'. Robbe-Grillet is fond of inserting hard-core BDSM scenes in his abstruse, yet highly interesting books and movies. Now you know why so many literature teachers read and study him).

I ramble... sorry. But I would be VERY grateful for the following files:

Story of O in French (I have a passable translation)
The Image in French and/or English.

Needless to say I would be happy to trade some of my files if requested!