UNDER HER THUMB (BOOK REVIEW)

Now and then I get asked to review books, mostly about Female Led Relationships—or, a bit naughtier, about female domination, fictional or otherwise. My policy has been to take a polite pass on all such. But now that I’ve posted a couple femdom fantasies of my own on these pages, I decided to make an exception.

I’m glad I did. Under Her Thumb: Erotic Stories of Female Domination is an impressive collection of femdom fiction. The short selections are not only arousing (especially for woman-worshipping blokes like me), but uncommonly well written. A proper bow to D.L. King for her excellent editing—and her writing. Ms. King’s “Hound and Hare” is a deftly told tale of consensual entrapment with some amusing background on the Hash House Harriers, a worldwide social hounds-and-hare running club—or, as Hashers prefer to call themselves, “drinkers with a running problem.”

“There are no clunkers in this collection” one reviewer has noted. I agree. I’m not partial to play-by-play accounts of sexual encounters of any kind, so I was wary from page one. But I was quickly relieved to find that the focus of these erotically imaginative vignettes was on delicious encounters and seductive

situations, not on who did what to whom and with what.

My personal favorite was Andrea Dale’s “Fear Not,” in which a devoted domme wife devises a diabolically effective way to cure her husband’s lifelong “glossophobia” (you can look it up). The last-sentence payoff is absolutely O’Henry-esque.

Other devoted and tender dommes are to be found here, inflicting almost unbearable bliss on their willing subs. For instance, there is “Her Majesty,” the affectionate title given by Lawrence Westerman to his supremely dominant mate of twenty-five years. Westerman’s “Her Majesty’s Plaything” (also the name of his provocative blog) offers a glimpse into what seems close to Shakespeare’s idealized “marriage of true minds.”

An honorable mention definitely goes to Laura Antoniou’s “Blame Spartacus,” in which we witness a young woman’s fulfillment of a schoolgirl fantasy, watching gladiators fight for her thumbs-up favor; and to Teresa Noel Roberts “Business Managing,” a tale of lascivious late nights in the executive suite.

Confession: I skimmed a couple stories; perhaps I was already surfeited. After all, it doesn’t do for a boy to get too excited. My verdict? Five stars. Second Confession: My own fevered attempts at this genre would not, alas, merit inclusion in Under Her Thumb. Yes, it’s that good—though just a wee bit literary for my plebeian palate.