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'The pioneer of erotic fiction' DAILY MAIL

'Awakening female erotic consciousness, after the long sleep of Victorianism' HILARY A. HALLETT, NEW YORK TIMES

'Its power was so great, in fact, that it threatened the patriarchal structures that the twentieth century was built on' ATLANTIC

This hugely enjoyable novel, a scandalous success in 1907, is even today, startling for its enthusiastic depiction of female sensuality. One of Virago's trio of turn-of-the-century erotic bestsellers, with Edith Maud Hull's The Sheik and Ethel M. Dell's The Way of an Eagle. Paul Verdayne, a wealthy English nobleman in his early twenties is caught embracing the parson's daughter. His parents decide to send him away to France and then Switzerland.

In Switzerland, he sees a woman referred to only as "the Lady". The Lady is older, in her thirties. After several days of exchanging lustful glances, they actually meet. She invites him to her apartment where they share a sexual relationship for three weeks. She disappears soon after and Paul is upset and returns to England. Amid high drama Paul finally discovers her august and tragic secret . . .