John Barclett

This book is unusual within the range of erotic literature published by Grove Press, in its lack of extreme lack of consensuality in its portrayals of erotic domination. The plot concerns an establishment (in Morocco) in which two trainers, one female, one male, use the firm discipline of corporal chastisement to subdue your ladies of a rebellious nature. The young lady involved here, Caroline Martin, has offended a gentleman of high society in the haughty refusal of her favours, and he pays to have her abducted, without leaving a trace behind) and trained in submission. She proves to be full of spirit, requiring a lengthy regime of imprisonment and whipping. The tale relates countless canings, under restraint, and in the absence of any effective plot or character development this verges on the tedious. The story sort of peters out once the male trainer has succeeded in obtaining relief for his arousal, well before Caroline is delivered to her eventual ‘owner’; whether room was thus being left for a sequel, or simply that the author exhausted his interest, must be left to the reader’s estimation. The book employs the excesses characteristic of Paul Little, but without the skills of that expert.… (mer)