The Training of an English Gentleman

The majority of Celbridge's tales of erotic chastisement concern F/F encounters, with only fleeting episodes of F/M. This novel reverses this trend. It concerns a young man of Austrian extraction who comes to England shortly after WWI, and is here befriended by a retired major, along with his young wife and daughter. His schooling and early experiences have provided him with a tolerance of severe corporal chastisement which predispose him to oblige the punitive needs of these two women, and their circle of friends who share their love of beating and humiliating males. He is joined by another young man of similar disposition, and together they endure the stinging attentions of many women, all with loving tolerance of the pain involved. More than many of Celbridge's books, this one includes many intriguing twists of plot, and thus largely avoids the fault of endless repetition that is common in this genre. The story deals quite sensitively with the paradoxes of love and pain, and pride and humiliation, and it will certainly appeal to those with a liking for F/M scenarios. ( )