Tuesday, June 12, 2018

The Feminine Régime: A Book Review

by T.H. Enerdly

Many years ago, probably in the early 1990s, I secured a copy of a book titled The Feminine Regime, authored by Miss Regina Snow, cheaply bound, and incomplete. The book I had was a “teaser,” containing only four or five chapters of a projected 18 chapters. The complete book was eventually published in 1995 by The Wildfire Club. However, much to my disappointment, the publisher ceased operations before I was able to buy a copy.


For the last 20 years or so, I've been looking for a copy of the final edition, or perhaps I should say an inexpensive copy. I discovered long ago that the book is available from antiquarian booksellers but at a price. For example, at the time of this writing, Bookfinder.com lists eight copies for sale, ranging in price from $82.64 to $261.31. These prices are far too dear for my budget. By way of comparison, a copy of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, a book that outsold everything except a Harry Potter book the year of its publication, can be had for $1.46 at Amazon.com. Thus, at the present time, there does seem to be a greater demand for Miss Snow’s book than for Mr. Brown’s book, assuming of course that price is a proxy for demand.

As can be seen from the image of the cover accompanying this blog post, the book seems to be about spanking, a genre for which I have a certain affection. In fact, the books published by The Wildfire Club were advertised in Janus magazine, a popular British spanking publication, no longer published thanks to the Internet.

Recently, quite by accident, I stumbled across a PDF copy of The Feminine Régime at Archive.org. You can get your very own copy at the following link:


Having finally had the opportunity to read the complete book, I was surprised to discover that The Feminine Régime was as much a lady-to-maid book as a spanking book. For this reason, I suggest that those who frequent this blog consider adding it to their reading list.



For example, the inciting incident for the story is an advertisement for a maid’s position that the protagonist, Lavinia Delacourt, chances upon. Quoting from the book:

***

The Advertisement
In one of the more outlandish of the publications she found an advertisement for a kitchen-maid to an all-female household. The post was to be unpaid and the girl must accept the discipline of an Edwardian maidservant. In return she would be totally cared for, freed from all responsibility for herself and inducted into a magical world which had no point of contact with the current world.
***

The book ends with Lavinia, now a lady in an elegant household … albeit a lady with a fondness for serving as a maid, chatting with an acquaintance about some former ladies who have been sentenced to serve as maids to atone for their transgressions. Of course, these former ladies also receive corporal discipline when their ancillary services are subpar. The book is a spanking book after all.

As a writer of L2M stories, I have learned that it is very difficult to guess whether any given story of mine will be popular with readers. Guessing whether readers would like The Feminine Regime is just as difficult. For this reason, I’ve decided to include the blurb accompanying The Feminine Regime and to let the readers decide for themselves.

***

The Blurb

The Feminine Régime is the first serious novel of female discipline ever to be published.

 The Feminine Régime takes the reader into another world: a feminine world with its own laws and its own standards. A world of scent and lipstick, hats, gloves and nylon stockings. Maidservants are the absolute property of their mistresses. Uniformed, grown-up schoolgirls are educated with old-fashioned school discipline. The courts of this hidden Empire sentence women to canings, strappings and sentences of "Punitive Service" as maids under severe discipline.

 But the most fascinating thing about the book is the fact that it is not a fantasy. The hidden Empire in which the action takes place is a reality to which the authoress herself is proud to belong. While the book and its events are fictional, the background against which it takes place is not, and in the course of a breathtaking story we are taken on a conducted tour of that world, seeing private homes, schools and courts.

 We see from within the life of a "slavey", the lowest grade of maidservant, subject to the discipline of all the other maids as well as her mistresses. We attend an Imperial school ruled by a formidable mistress with a stiff strap. We experience schoolgirl canings -- including one of the most intense and powerful caning scenes ever written -- and public, judicial chastisements.

 Yet The Feminine Régime is not just a "flagellation novel". That is what makes it unique. It is a literary masterpiece. Beautifully written in prose which The Daily Telegraph's reviewer described as "cut-crystal"; deeply philosophical, trenchant, witty and moving; filled with memorable characters and unforgettable incidents.The Feminine Régime really is the first serious novel of female discipline.
***

I’ll conclude this review with some observations on what I, a writer of L2M stories, found interesting about The Feminine Regime. The following brief scene appears toward the end of the the novel:

***

Brief Scene from The Feminine Régime

"Yes, Mildred.”

“Miss Rachel is awake, my lady.”

“Would you like to take her breakfast?” asked Lady Chelverton of Lavinia.

“Yes please, my lady. May I wear my uniform?”

“Can you change quickly ?”

“Instant slavey. Just add water.”

“Very well, you young idiot. Mildred, have a breakfast tray prepared for Miss Rachel. Miss Lavinia will come to the kitchen to take it to her. She will be dressed as a slavey, but you are all to treat her as a young lady. Understood ?”

“Very good, my lady.”

Lavinia stood up […]

“Will that be all, my lady?” asked Mildred.

“No. I have decided to change my last instruction. You will not treat Miss Lavinia as a young lady. You will treat her as a slavey— when she is dressed as a slavey: not otherwise.”

“Very good, my lady.”

“That will be all, Mildred.”

***

To provide some context for the quote: Lavinia, formerly a slavey, is now a lady in a household consisting of ladies and maids. For reasons not relevant to this discussion, Livina wishes to serve Rachel breakfast while she, Lavinia, is dressed as a slavey. To do this she must seek permission from the head of the household, Lady Chelverton. The latter creates a new rule on the spot: A lady of the house may temporarily dress as a maid, but, while so dressed, is part of the hierarchy of maids, not ladies, and must obey the commands of higher status maids. By the way, a slavey is the lowest status maid.

Such an arrangement strikes me as having all kinds of potential in a L2M story. For example, the quotation reminds of a scene in Robert Altman’s film Gosford Park. In this scene, a maid, Mrs. Wilson, played by Helen Mirren, delivers the following monologue:

***

Mrs. Wilson’s Monologue

What gift do you think a good servant has that separates them from the others? It's the gift of anticipation. And I'm a good servant. I'm better than good. I'm the best. I'm the perfect servant. I know when they'll be hungry and the food is ready. I know when they'll be tired and the bed is turned down. I know it before they know it themselves.

***

Essentially, Mrs. Wilson says that the best kind of maid is one who understands her mistress better than her mistress understands herself. What happens when a mistress dresses as a maid of lower status than her own maid, thereby “temporarily” placing herself under the command of her former maid? More specifically, what happens when a mistress dons a maid’s uniform and places herself under the command of a maid, possibly one of Mrs. Wilson’s “best“ maids, one who knows exactly how to subject her one-time mistress to agonies and ecstasies the latter has never experienced or imagined? 

Notice that this scenario does not require any sort of trickery on the part of the maid. All that’s required is for the mistress to voluntarily don a maid’s uniform. Will the former mistress then be able to summon the will to remove the uniform, don her former finery, and become a mistress again? Or will the maid exploit the mistress’s need to serve and, for example, forbid her from entering the room containing the new maid’s former mistress outfits? Will the uniform become a sort of skin that the mistress discovers that she cannot remove? These scenarios only hint at the possibilities.




12 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing
    Hugs
    Jackie J
    XX

    ReplyDelete
  2. Secret empire?...is the author connected to the "Aristasia" spanking-lesbian cult?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The answer is yes.

      I made the decision to ignore Aristasia, not to be sneaky, but because the history of Aristasia is so convoluted that it defies my ability to describe it. For example, you describe Aristasia as a "spanking-lesbian cult." First, let's consider the "spanking" aspect. Many in the Aristasian community claim the the spanking aspect was designed to attract recruits from the country that invented the "English vice" but otherwise does not accurately reflect the actual views of Aristasians. Now, let's consider the "lesbian" aspect. I have read claims that many Aristasians self identify as heterosexuals. Thus, it can be argued that both the "spanking" and "lesbian" labels are incorrect.

      My researches into Aristasia suggest that there is almost no consensus about what Aristasia is (or was).

      Apparently, the whole Aristasian thing collapsed in the mid to late 1990's and morphed into something else. I claim no insight into what that something else is.

      What we are left with are archeological artifacts such as "The Feminine Regime."

      I suggest that you treat it as an interesting example of L2M literature.

      Delete
  3. I couldn't get past the first few pages. All the stuff about "the Eclipse" and so on was just too tiresome. I don't mind fiction that has a viewpoint, but the story has to come first.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For some reason, your message reminds me of Martial's "Epigrams." For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with him, Martial was an ancient Roman poet, and an epigram is a type of short poem. Many of Martial's epigrams are lewd.

      One translator of the "Epigrams," not wishing to offend his reader's delicate sensibilities, put all the lewd epigrams in an appendix. This particular edition was a hit with readers. To get to the "good stuff," all they had to do was go straight to the appendix.

      Imagine that you created a new edition of "The Feminine Régime" by putting everything in the book except for the first and final sections into an appendix. Then to get to the "good stuff," you would go straight to the appendix.

      BTW, my principal interest in the novel was to pick new ideas for L2M stories. I found "The Feminine Régime" to be helpful in this regard.

      Delete
    2. A little bit long, too many difficult words?

      Delete
  4. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    I hope folk can take and enjoy from this literature that what they seek.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Camille
    Thanks for the link
    A very good book, beautifully written.

    Charles

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  6. Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this web site wants much more consideration. I’ll in all probability be once more to read far more, thanks for that info. casino play

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  7. Camille, thanks very much for posting the download links for "The Feminine Regime." I owned the book way back when and have missed it. It's great to be able to read it again. I always enjoyed the Handmaidens forum and all things Aristasia, so this was a very welcome find. Thanks also for all of your reading suggestions!

    ~joea1000

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  8. Have you thought about finishing some of C.Lakewoods writings like Elise or Little Miss Tayque?

    ReplyDelete