LONDON — The Damson Dene Hotel in the Lake District of London has replaced its Gideon Bibles with copies of E.L. James' chart-busting erotic novel, "Fifty Shades of Grey."
Innkeeper Jonathan Denby replaced the bibles from all 40 guests' rooms in the hotel less than a week ago, but had thought to do so for quite some time to shake off any notions that the Damson Dene is too old fashioned.
"I haven’t read the book yet — I’m not in the target audience — but I’m told it’s a ripping good yarn and everyone who’s in the target audience loves it," Denby wrote on his blog. "This made me wonder about the sense of providing a book, the Gideon Bible which no-one reads, and many dislike, in the bedside cabinet of our hotel bedrooms, instead of a book which everyone wants to read, such as Fifty Shades of Grey."
Denby goes on to explain that "in this secular age it seems distinctly odd that anyone would expect to find a religious book in a hotel bedroom," but promised to make the bibles available at the hotel's front desk upon request.
As for any expected backlash from bible-thumpers, Denby told MercuryNews.com that only "one or two religious groups have protested, but there haven't been any pickets, or anything serious. Interestingly, we've had a lot of emails from the States, quoting scripture at us, presumably from the Bible Belt."
