Collected for the first time in one volume are these excerpts from the masterpieces of Victorian erotic literature. Assembled here are some of the best-known underground "My Secret Life," "A Man with a Maid," "Suburban Souls," and "Eveline." Also included are several of the newly-discovered Victorian "Birch in the Budoir," "The Amorous Adventures of Capt. Charles De Vane," "Beatrice," and "The Days at Florville." All attest to the daring, ebullience, and voluptuousness of the Victorians' hidden sexual lives, both real and imagined.
The pseudonym Richard Manton first appeared in print in the early 1980's on spanking stories published in Janus Magazine. Shortly after in 1982 Grove Press began issuing the Grove Press Victorian Library, many of which were authored by Manton.
The most marked characteristic of Manton's work is that he used the same female characters repeatedly in different novels, no matter the setting or situation, e.g., Elaine Cox, Cara Jolly, Noreen. It is this use of the same female characters that has lead researchers to believe that the author behind the Manton name is Donald Thomas.
In the mid 1970's Thomas wrote several crime novels under the name Francis Selwyn. While these are not erotica, several of Manton's characters appear in them with the exact same names and characteristics as in the Manton books. There are some instances of corporal punishment in the novels as well.
This book was.....interesting. I don't even remember where I got it.
It's about flagellation and torture in Victorian/Edwardian England. It basically describes how principal members of society got away with enjoying it by calling it something else. The excerpts touch upon incest, flagellation, whipping, bondage, torture, voyeurism, and what might be construed as pedophilia (some of the girls involved are about thirteen or fourteen, and there is obvious sexual pleasure got from them). It's not for the faint of heart.
It took me a very long time to read this book because it's not particularly interesting. It pretty much stands as an erotic novel (with some historical factual information) for unique sexual interests.