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4.0 out of 5 stars
No Student Will Flunk This History Class, Dec 18 2002
This anthology contains news stories written within a historical context. The time periods range from prehistoric to the 1940's. The stories are so well written that they seem to hail from the very era they are set in.Some of my favorites are: Evelina by Louisa Campion is an erotic peak into the lives of British Aristocracy in the 1800's. Think a sexier Jane Austin! Succubus by Rosemary Hawley Jarman is about a whore rescued from a goal by a necromancer who works magic upon her in hopes of destroying a kingdom. No Natural Magic by Alice Joanou suggests that his mother, Ophelia's lover, may have committed the murder of Hamlet's father. Though I liked the story, the author should have struck the distracting modern language from it. The Brilliance and Misery of Bodies; Of War, Of Dreams by Michael Hemmingson, about a debutante who losses her fiancé in WWI and becomes a flapper in her grief, is a very moving story in many ways. The Prescription by Carol Anne Davis, about a Victorian spinster's visit to a surgeon to investigate him for suspected improprieties, illustrates society's repression of women's sexuality and how beneficial certain therapeutic measures can be. Camille's Resistance by Robert de Vel is set just before the French Revolution with a dungeon scene that is to petite mort for! Wetnurse of the World by Val Weston purports to make wetnursing a new Olympic sport! Amelia by Valentina Cilescu is an exquisite initiation story! Crossing the Rubicon by Brian Levy is about boys in a private school coming of age thanks to their nurse. The Missionary by Rebecca Ambrose is a tale of evolution. When England Called by Debra Hyde is the story of a wealthy French woman, who escapes to England before the Revolution and courts the royalty from a brothel. Enki by Angus MacMilian is about the supplication of a Prince to an enemy king and his Goddess. I fairly swooned! Hall of Mirrors by Vivienne La Fay is the story of how illusion and fantasy greatly enhance the experience. To Get an Heir by Dominic Santi, about a barren man who hires a French rogue to get his wife with child, brought tears to my eyes at story's end. Romantic, sensual and erotic! A must read! Of Waxen Figures and Screaming Tombs by Jasmine Sailing is a story set in ancient Egypt during the reign of Ramses II full of mysticism and intrigue. The Concubine by Rosemary Hawley Jarman and The Tears of the Crocodile by Michael Cawley give readers a glimpse into the decadence of royalty surrounded by yes men slaves and hidden enemies a world so foreign to most 21st Century societies. Plague Lovers by Lucy Taylor describes the lengths people will go to get love. These by far are not the only stories in the book. The stories are very imaginative though some had inaccurate historical details. This is a great volume to share with your lover!
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