Birching Beatrice

When Sir Walter Rowbotham in 1882 had enrolled his troublesome daughter in Miss Prendergast's excellent finishing day school for young ladies of marriageable age it had been a somewhat of a last resort. Keen to marry her off to the son of a wealthy and well connected colleague he had despaired of correcting her wayward manners and conduct and, with the marriage negotiations now suspended, he had been at his wits' end. He is delighted therefore when one day his daughter returns home from school to report that she has been severely flogged with the birch. Happy with this evidence that Miss Prendergast has his daughter well in hand, Sir Walter reports the progress to his friends and colleagues and thus sets off a chain reaction of events he had scarce imagined.

Before long the estimable Miss Prendergast is being inundated with requests from Sir Walter's acquaintances concerning their own problem daughters, nieces and even their servant maids. Most remarkable of all is an inquiry from a certain Lady Claire Postlethwaite and her husband who wish to commission Miss Prendergast for a most extraordinary purpose. There will soon be work enough for Miss Prendergast's birches and canes.

This charming, and slightly tongue in cheek, period spanking fantasy is a deliciously wicked peek behind the curtains of late Victorian English society and will delight the fans of Michaela Francis' inimitable style.