Some people seem to think that erotica is a modern phenomenon, but in fact, one can find examples of it reaching back a very long way. It reached a peak of sorts during the Victorian era, and Victorian erotica has some interesting quirks that one doesn't often see anymore.

Scarlet Darkwood's "Pleasure House," set though it is during the 1920s, reminded me immediately of classic Victorian erotica such as "The Education of a Maiden" and "The Memoirs of Fanny Hill." This book is light on plot, but that's not a criticism and not really the point. As with its Victorian antecedents, this book is concerned mostly with pleasures of the flesh—romping through more perversions in a few chapters than most works can manage in an entire novel.

This installment follows the travails of Rose, a young woman with more sex drive than self control, and for young ladies in the 1920s, that's a problem. She's packed off by her family to what appears to be some sort of sanitarium, known simply as The House, which proves to be something else entirely. The Pleasure House is a place for those with open minds and overactive libidos to explore every possible method of pleasuring themselves and others, and Rose proves to be an apt pupil indeed.

To attempt to summarize all the fleshly indulgences Rose engages in here would do a disservice to both the reader and the author. Rest assured, if you're looking to expand your erotic horizons, you could do a great deal worse than this book.

5 Devices of Pleasure

From the very beginning this book take you down a very erotic path. The house is thought to be a place to bring people to be cured of their lustful behaviour. In actuality it is a place where the “inmates” are encouraged to not only explore their sexuality, but to participate in all sorts of sexual play. I have no idea what time period this book is set in. At first I thought it was set in the mid to late 1800’s, but there are cars and electricity as well as other modern conveniences. So I am thinking the 1930’s. Not that this really matters, but it was something that I thought about while picturing the scenes in this book. The author has a very vivid way of describing the sexual acts portrayed by the residence of The Pleasure House. The acts are far from the norm. Do people really do these things? This book definitely has a hard core element to it. Christian Grey would blush at the things that happen in this book.
Bottom line if you like things way out there, you will love this book. I can’t wait to see what happens in book 2 Mistress of the House.

ARC Provided by Enticing Journey. Honest review done by Mollien, for Alpha Book Club without influence from publisher or author.