Mother Always.said…
Mother Always.said… by Viv Quillin, published by Gollancz in 1995, presents a unique exploration of desire and power dynamics within aristocratic society. This edition, comprising 48 pages, delves into the tumultuous years surrounding the death of Charles II in 1685, focusing on a scandal involving Henrietta Berkeley and Lord Grey. The narrative intertwines themes of eroticism, politics, and the complexities of man-woman relationships, offering a vivid portrayal of Restoration culture.
Readers will find a rich tapestry of emotions as the story unfolds through the love letters of the young protagonist, Silvia. Initially characterized by innocence and passion, Silvia’s journey reveals a transformation influenced by seduction and disillusionment. The text examines the desire for erotic domination and the anarchic nature of human appetites, set against a backdrop of shifting authority. This work contributes to the broader landscape of British and Irish fiction, particularly within the historical romance genre.
Official synopsis Publisher
With Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister, Aphra Behn, a leading Restoration dramatist, produced what is arguably the first long novel in English.
Her witty, racy roman a’ clef in three volumes is set in the tumultuous years surrounding the death of Charles II in 1685. A heady mix of eroticism, sex and politics, it concentrates on a sensational aristocratic scandal of the day, the seduction of Henrietta Berkeley by her sister’s husband Lord Grey, a notorious libertine, rebel and intimate of King Charles’s son, the Duke of Monmouth.
‘Love-Letters depicts the desire for erotic domination at the heart of aristocratic Restoration culture – possibly of any culture,’ writes Janet Todd in her Introduction. As the novel unfolds, the innocence of Behn’s young protagonist Silvia, evident in the sincerity and passion of her love-letters, is undermined; seduction is followed by disillusionment, and Silvia transforms herself into a female rake, bent on conquest rather than love. Portraying a world in which individual appetite rules and all authority is in doubt, Love-Letters brilliantly dramatizes the perverse and anarchic nature of desire.
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