''Fifty Shades Darker'' is a 2012

erotic romance Erotic romance novels are stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and could not be removed without damag ...

novel by British author E. L. James. It is the second installment in the ''Fifty Shades'' trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young

business magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

, Christian Grey. The first and third volumes, '' Fifty Shades of Grey'' and '' Fifty Shades Freed'', were published in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The novel is published by

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

and reached No. 1 on the ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' best seller list.

Plot

Three days after leaving Christian, Anastasia "Ana" Steele begins her job as personal assistant to Jack Hyde, an editor at Seattle Independent Publishing (SIP). He asks Ana out often which, though it makes her uneasy, she writes off. Later, Christian emails her about a gallery exhibit José Rodriguez started in Portland, which she had forgotten. Ana and Christian attend the show together and kiss in an alley. The same night, they have dinner in a restaurant and Christian reveals he wants her any way possible. He wants to resume their relationship, but under Ana's conditions: no rules and no punishments. She agrees. Christian reveals that he bought SIP, but the deal must stay secret for another month. Ana starts feeling Christian is interfering in her career, especially after he freezes the company's accounts, preventing her from going on an overnight business trip to New York with Jack. Christian insists his actions were for her own protection because Jack is a "known philanderer" who has apparently harassed his last five assistants. Jack eventually corners Ana after hours and blackmails her, demanding sexual favors. Ana escapes using her self-defense training, and Christian has him fired and confiscates his work computer. When attending a masquerade ball at the home of Christian's parents, Ana meets Christian's ex-lover Elena Lincoln, who turns out to own a salon business with Christian. Later, Ana is auctioned off and Christian bids $100,000 for the first dance with her. Ana is disgusted to learn that he continues to be friends with Elena, who seduced him when he was only 15 years old and introduced him to the

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...

lifestyle. Realizing that Christian sees Ana as a girlfriend and not a submissive, Elena becomes antagonistic towards her, trying to sow discord in the budding relationship. Meanwhile, Ana is stalked at work by Leila Williams, one of Christian's former submissives, who turns out to own a gun. Leila's obsession with Christian and Ana began after she left her husband four months before, leading to a mental breakdown. Leila breaks into Ana's apartment and threatens her at gunpoint. Christian defuses the situation by using their dominant/submissive dynamic, leaving Ana worried that he cannot be satisfied with a vanilla relationship. Ana confronts Christian about Leila. Fearing Ana is leaving him again, Christian impulsively puts out his marriage proposal. Ana does not answer, claiming she needs time to consider it. José, whom Christian still views as a romantic rival, drives to Seattle to visit Ana, which Christian only permits if they both stay at Escala. Ana becomes worried on the night before Christian's 28th birthday when he goes missing flying from Portland to Seattle in his helicopter. He eventually makes it back to Escala safely, explaining that both the helicopter's engines failed; sabotage is suspected. Noticing her own feelings for him, Ana accepts his marriage proposal. The next day, the Grey family throws Christian a large birthday party. Ana's friend Kate worries after finding an email between Ana and Christian, discussing the BDSM contract. However, Ana assures her that her relationship with Christian is a vanilla one. After the couple announces their engagement, Elena, who still loves Christian, confronts Ana. Accusing Ana of being a gold-digger, Elena claims that a vanilla relationship will never satisfy Christian. Christian interrupts their fight and confronts Elena. He says that while Elena taught him how to take control of his own life, she never once taught him to love like Ana did. Christian's adoptive mother, Grace, overhears the argument and is furious that Elena preyed on her teenage son. After slapping her across the face, Grace rails at Elena for her actions and orders her out of her family's life for good. After Elena leaves, Grace confronts Christian about it. He tells Grace the whole story and decides to end his business relationship with Elena, giving her the salon. Christian takes Ana to the boathouse, which has been decorated with flowers and soft lights. He proposes properly with a ring and Ana accepts. Outside the Greys' mansion, Jack Hyde secretly watches the party; he is the one who sabotaged Christian's helicopter and has sworn revenge.

Characters

Reception

The novel reached No. 2 on the ''

'' best seller list and is considered by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' to be No. 11 on the Top 100 Bestselling Books of All Time in the United Kingdom.

Film adaptation

In March 2014, the producer for the eponymous film adaptation of '' Fifty Shades of Grey'', Dana Brunetti, had said there were, as of then, no solid plans to make a sequel. That film was released on 13 February 2015. Before the first film premiered, there was still high anticipation from fans for the sequel to the film. After the first film premiered at a special fan screening in New York City on 6 February 2015, director

Sam Taylor-Johnson Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson ( Taylor-Wood; born 1967) is a British filmmaker. Her directorial feature film debut was 2009's ''Nowhere Boy'', a film based on the childhood experiences of the Beatles' singer and songwriter John Lennon. She is ...

confirmed two sequels to be succeeded after the first film, with ''Fifty Shades Darker'' to be released in 2016. Principal photography commenced in June 2015 in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, Canada. In April 2015, at the Universal CinemaCon in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Universal announced the release dates of the film along with its sequel. The film was released on 10 February 2017. The first still from the film was released on Friday, 24 April 2015, showing

Jamie Dornan James Peter Maxwell Dornan (; born 1 May 1982) is an actor, model, and musician from Northern Ireland. The recipient of two Irish Film and Television Awards, he has been nominated for a BAFTA Television Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 202 ...

as Christian Grey in a black mask looking into a mirror. In April 2015, Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley told ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' that the second instalment will be "more of a thriller". In November 2015, Universal Studios announced that both films will be shot

back-to-back Back to Back or back-to-back may refer to: Film and theatre *Back to Back (film), ''Back to Back'' (film), a 1996 American action film *Back-to-back film production, the practice of making two films as a unified production *Back to Back Theatre, ...

with

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

scheduled to commence in early 2016. Filming began in Canada on 9 February 2016 and continued through 12 July 2016. On 28 January 2016, producer Charolette McKinney broke ground on the new project, and it was announced that Kim Basinger would play Elena Lincoln.

References

External links