Women of command from the Indian Subcontinent are the theme of the two books in the the first volume 0f "Eastern Power-Plays", Shruti Jalav kicks us off with "A Very English Chattel", her tale of a young Indian woman with plain looks and a body that would not be out of place on a Venus. A Varanasi housekeeper with sexual demons she is more than willing to embrace when seeing an opportunity to satisfy them with the visiting English Oxbridge academic employing her... A visitor with his tail between his legs after a devastating divorce that has ensured he will be vulnerable to the charms of a woman… Even if she is not only far younger but his live-in housekeeper. In "Adhira Khatri", Rafael Menton's tale of marital betrayal, murder, and interracial domination, we are introduced to Thomas Hudson, a man who has been betrayed by the people closest to him and exacted a suitably physical retribution. A retribution that had led to the loss of both his freedom and his young daughter after his anger had led to him being sentenced for attempted murder. Anger that soon became weakness and fear during his stay in prison. A weakness and fear the Indian woman with fantasies of control who had once been his neighbour was about to use to fashion him into the kind of Englishman of whom she had always dreamed! Thoughtful female-led fiction for those who prefer their erotic fiction believable and enjoy bringing their own imaginations to the party.