Ariel Sands is the pseudonymous author of Never the Face,[1] a sadomasochistic novel, who is also said to be an internationally known writer of non-fiction under another name. Her true identity is not publicly known.
Never the Face describes a sadomasochistic relationship between a man, David, and the book’s narrator, a woman identified only as “Kitten” or “Bitch”. In the novel, David trains Kitten to be the submissive partner in a sexual relationship that includes bondage, orgasm control and beating her with a variety of implements. What begins as a consensual relationship spirals into increasing physical and emotional abuse. The book contains explicit sexual imagery that has been described as “brutal”.[2] It was published in April 2011 by St Martin’s Press.