Title: Straits Academy
Author: Alice Liddell
Publisher: Blushing Books (29 September 2012)
ISBN: 9781609688363
A novel of punishment, pleasure and intrigue set against the exotic backdrop of 1920s Singapore, Straits Academy will almost certainly appeal to those with a penchant for sexual discipline. I was really intrigued by this book’s synopsis – I’ve not come across many contemporary erotic novels set in the early twentieth century – and the promise of crops and correction within the context of a colonial girls’ boarding school was too much to resist.
In the first few pages of Straits Academy, we are introduced to our intrepid heroine, Adelaide Hartley (Addy), as her boat makes its way into Singapore harbour; she is excited about meeting her new fiancé, Arthur Fitz-Bowman, after a long-distance courtship and looking forward to the prospect of embarking on a new life in a foreign country. Her joyous anticipation quickly fades, however, in the face of the news that her future husband has been murdered – possibly as a direct result of an opium smuggling investigation he was conducting at the time of his death. Mr Thomas Drake, the man responsible for delivering Adelaide an account of the terrible event, suspects that his murder – and the smuggling – is somehow tied to the beautiful Madame Ong who runs a well-known girls’ boarding school, Straits Academy. A close friend of the deceased, he has been doing his utmost to solve the mystery surrounding his acquaintance’s untimely death. Yet as he speaks with Adelaide (who despite her age of twenty-two years resembles, in stature, a teenage girl) he is struck by a somewhat unconventional idea that results in an even more outlandish proposal: will she consider posing as his niece and attending Straits Academy in an attempt to glean information about Arthur’s murder? To his surprise, Addy agrees to his suggestion – and thus begins a wonderful tale of raised school dresses, lowered drawers and very pink bottoms.
We’ve all heard of villains we love to hate but, in this instance, Madame Ong is very much the villain you hate to love. Cruel and sensual in equal measure, the reader looks forward to her punishments with the same twisted sense of anticipation that the school girls in her charge do. She is beautiful, measured and capable of just about anything. Adelaide’s interactions with her and her like-minded staff are blisteringly hot and, even with the advantage of a level of maturity, Addy is cannot remain indifferent to the sexually charged correction methods she and the other girls must subject themselves to. It’s the small touches that make Madame Ong so successful, because even though Straits Academy is explicit, the moments that her power is more ‘quiet’, are equally potent and stimulating:
‘Adelaide rose hurriedly and pulled up her drawers, her fingers fumbling with the buttons. As she got the last button through, and her skirt smoothed down, she looked up and noticed the headmistress looking pointedly at the bench where she had been sitting.
Adelaide spun around to look and turned beet red. There was a dark spot on the wood exactly where she had been sitting. The headmistress caught her eye and gave her a wide smile.
“I think you’ll do very well here at Straits Academy, Adelaide. Very well indeed. Now off to class with you.”’
But as much as I looked forward to Madame Ong, I also loved reading about Mr Drake, the man responsible for thrusting Addy under her nose – or should I say hand. Very much aware of his sexual appetites, watching him as his awareness of Straits Academy’s practices and policies – and its true purpose – grew was wonderful. The scenes in which he disciplines his wayward ‘niece’ are electric (the age-play is very well done), laced with tension, and work as an unusual sort of foreplay for the romance that develops between them. There is an outstanding scene involving him spanking Adelaide under the eye of a school chaperone that almost had me sticking my head in the fridge and another involving a mirror and chair that had a very similar effect.
‘Drake raised his hand, and held it above her for a second, savouring the sight of her bare bottom and the feel of her across his legs. Having Miss Connor’s eager eyes on them was a potent spice.
He brought his hand down, hard enough to make a good sound and raise a pink splotch on her bottom. She made a little cry, but kept her hands and feet in place.’
There are some editing errors in Straits Academy (minor typos and inconsistences ) but I was lucky enough to be able to read an advance copy of the text so these could very well be absent from the final version (and in any case, the story and the writing were strong enough that I was able to move past them without feeling they’d substantially detracted from the book). I will also admit that I was a little disappointed by what I felt was the story’s somewhat quick end; the Straits Academy plot unfolded at a steady pace for the first twenty seven chapters but its resolution seemed, to me, to be a little hurried, which was a shame. I was really hoping to see more of Madame Ong, her staff and the mysterious Tan Yue Sheng in the concluding stages. Perhaps Alice Liddell is teasing us, however, and we will see more of the fates of these characters in a future book. Let’s hope so.
A Town Like Alice meets Delta of Venus. Exotic, hot and very sexy.
*Please note that Straits Academy was provided free of charge by the author in exchange for a fair review.
Tickle your fancy? Click on the following links to buy Straits Academy from Amazon.co.uk (Kindle) and Amazon.com (Kindle).
