An erotic novel about an Epsom mother's quest for satisfaction has been penned by a local mum who experienced a "sexual awakening" after reading Fifty Shades of Grey.      

Alexandra I, which is the author’s pen name, has published her first novel, The Collar of Freedom, through Amazon.

The happily married 40-year-old from Stoneleigh, who works in Putney, said the book evolved from a piece of fan fiction she had written based on E. L. James’ famous novels.

Her book’s heroine, Amelia Jones, lives in Epsom with her husband and two children, but is not happy in her marriage and is simply "plodding along".

Mrs I said: "An intriguing new boss starts at her company and they fall for each other. 

"He’s into sado-masochism and dominance.  

"She then finds her husband has been cheating on her.

"It’s about a woman’s search for more in her life and finding new ways of satisfying herself.

"Fifty Shades of Grey is more about sexual opening than anything else. 

"That book really opened me up and there were so many emotions within me about it and the way I dealt with them was to write them down. 

"My book is about how a woman who isn’t happy can do something about her life or stay put and not grow."

The writer, who loves driving, said cars feature heavily in the novel and she explores the heroine’s "sexual relationship with cars".

She said she writes under a pen name because she feels people would make a moral judgement on her if they knew she was the author.

"When I talk about these types of books to men they get the wrong idea. 

"Men like the visual, women like more mind stimulation," she said. 

"The book has lots of stimulation in it not just sex. 

"Men tend to equate it just to porn.

"People do make a judgement on you. 

"If they know someone is writing erotica they think that a woman is ‘loose’. 

"It’s the moral judgement of the 21st Century," she added.

Mrs I said the book, which she insists is not based on her own experiences, is aimed at women over the age of 30 who have already had children.  

She said: "Once you have children’s it’s all about them and when they go to school you’re empty and alone and think ‘what am I doing with my life now?’ and you realise whether you’re happy or not. 

"People re-evaluate their lives after the age of 40."

The author said the book has been "very successful" on Amazon, having received a number of favourable reviews, and she is now working on a second book which should be out in December, The Collar of Sacrifice.