Faye Rossignol

Rossignol has a gentle style which sustains an entertainingly erotic narrative, and places little strain on the reader’s credibility. In this book a young man is stimulated by the sight of his neighbour’s nubile daughter exposing her naked torso, to the extent that he enlists the educational expertise of a friendly local employer of financially motivated young women to improve his ‘amatory cv’. In the space of a single torrid week, funded by a new-found talent for gambling, he gains sufficient prowess to conquer the virginity of the initial target of his lusts, and he thus embarks on a carefree life, grazing his way through what he amusingly calls the ‘vertical smiles’ of all the women he meets. The book is well written, heterosexual in nature and fairly average in its practices, and it sustains interest almost to the end, but it then, regrettably, it fails to come to a satisfactory ending. This may be because a follow-on instalment seems to have been planned, but if this is the case I could find no details of such. The book therefore ends with two sections that are almost appendices, both rather taxonomic in nature: an expertly written catalogue of the physical and erotic performance characteristics of twenty ‘working girls’; and a well-thought-out systematisation of how such professionals might be objectively assessed. These sections are undoubtedly interesting, but in the context of a self-contained erotic novel they are not an ideal substitute for an ‘ending’, happy or otherwise. The book is, however, stimulating and entertaining, as is prerequisite in this genre.… (mais)

This appears to be a follow-on to the same author’s ‘Sweet Fanny’, and takes the form of a diary relating the seduction and sensual education of Fanny as a ‘grande horizontale’, following in the tradition set by her grandmother. It is a surprisingly gentle piece of erotica, presenting a steady stream of erotic situations, but in the unusually passion-free, matter-of-fact literary style expected of a personal diary. Punitive aspects are present, but meagre. The narrative includes experiences obtained in an oriental, harem situation that is a recurring feature of Victorian erotica, and the brothel scenes offer a reasonably credible picture of the experiences of the ladies thus employed, and the characteristics of their clients. Not a classic of the genre, but charmingly presented and interesting. It is very prettily illustrated by fine vignettes, drawn by the author.… (mais)

This book only partly fulfils the promise of its superb cover, in that the inclusion there of a riding whip, normally a signal that the story will include a significant proportion of erotic spanking, is here quite devoid of such significance. The story concerns the recruitment of the eponymous heroine into the ranks of ladies employed by an English ‘sporting house’ in the 1920s. Such employment is a condition of her receiving a substantial fortune from her aunt, who gained it from her own prowess in such an establishment. The story begins promisingly, as Véronique develops erotic relationships with her aunt’s priapic lawyer and his current mistress, and as she demonstrates that she is no slouch in acquiring the requisite amatory skills. The lawyer’s two sons, each with his own predilections, are introduced, as are a number of other female novices in the art of satisfying men’s lusts. The book seems to lose direction at around the half-way mark, though, and thereafter it seems to be mostly marking time, with lacklustre descriptions of intimate M/F and F/F activities trickling from one to the next, padded out by the author’s (mildly interesting) musings on the nature of commercial sex. Quite a few potentially productive scenarios are introduced, including the voyeuristic, and these should clearly have been developed, but it seems that the author simply lacked the erotic enthusiasm to do this. Erotic literature is difficult to write, and this book shows just how difficult. Three stars awarded because it does have its moments (particularly in the first half), but overall I found it rather disappointing.… (mais)