The Transvestite Memoirs / The Story of the Marquise-Marquis de Bannevill

Well this was enlightening. The Abbe de Choisy was an 18th century French aristocrat who was raised as a girl by his mother. Pardon my use of pronouns as I’m trying to follow the usage of the time which varied depending on how the author chose to present. His preference was to appear as female and was apparently quite beautiful with many admirers. One admirer was the king’s homosexual brother and the resulting social twitter caused her to retire to the countryside. De Choisy was multi-talented excelling in music, acting, art, and the social graces. To complicate her life she was a heterosexual male. The mores of French mothers were baffling as many gave their post-pubescent daughters over to her care either believing he was really a show more woman or based on his appearance thinking he was safe. Of course, he seduced them all teaching them the art of lovemaking and had the decency to care for his offspring. The priests were merely amused by his behavior which may explain why he took holy orders in later life after ruining herself through a gambling addiction. This volume includes a charming short story about a boy unwittingly raised as a girl who falls in love with a woman masquerading as a man. show less