The Mister

The Mister is a 2019 romance novel by E. L. James.

Plot
English aristocrat Maxim Trevelyan inherits the Earldom of Trevethick after the sudden death of his elder brother, Kit. He falls for his housemaid, Alessia Demachi, who is an undocumented Albanian immigrant. He takes her to his residence in Cornwall, when two strangers come to his apartment in search for Alessia. Maxim maintains a sexual relationship with her, keeping her unaware of his title; however, when Alessia finds out about Tevelyan's Earldom, she attempts to run away to no success, reconciling with Maxim. She reveals the existence of her abusive fiancé, who later ends up kidnapping her, sending the English aristocrat on a journey to Albania in her steps. Maxim eventually reaches her home, asking for her hand in marriage. Alessia arrives soon after, where she reveals the truth about her fiancé to her father, and end up marrying Trevelyan.

Reception
The Mister received mixed to negative reviews by literary critics, with review aggregator Book Marks reporting three negative and two positive reviews among six collected. The Guardian described it as "A coked-up lord bonks a trafficked Albanian immigrant as the Fifty Shades of Grey author swaps BDSM for dispiritingly creepy power games" and adding that "There is a complete dearth of emotional maturity that is genuinely unsettling." Jezebel wrote "the narrative is so committed to sexualizing Aleissa's vulnerability and powerlessness that the result is offensive." The Atlantic said it was "hopelessly retrograde and dismally unentertaining." In a positive review, Booklist stated that "the book's belief in the infinitely transformative power of love will hit the sweet spot for readers looking to be swept away."

Film adaptation
On February 25, 2020, it was announced by Variety that The Mister would be adapted into a film produced by Universal Pictures.