Katherine

The first Balzac I've ever read. A gripping story, without the over-floweriness of Sir Walter Scott, but with lightly lyrical descriptions of the landscape of the West of France, a beautiful and dashing heroine complete with faithful maid-and-friend, plenty of action and adventure, and mostly believable characters, as well as occasional tongue-in-cheek passages to add salt to the meat. I really enjoyed it, found it a real page-turner and read it in a matter of hours. Now I'm off to read Sarracine! Hope you enjoy it too.

Definitely an "adult" book! I was unprepared for the frankness and detail I found as this story of the early years of a country girl's life in London unfolded. However, I found the style delightful as Cleland uses implication and metaphor to the full. It just goes to show that one doesn't have to be crude or lewd when talking about sex, or so I thought on reading this book. The heroine has a refreshingly hearty appetite for physical pleasures, and this is a book to set against the myriad contemporary volumes which moralize, implicitly or otherwise. Is it written, rather than visual, pornography? Probably, but I don't regret reading it; it's one thing more to set down to experience!