‘After the first lash had curled around her shapely bottom, Pierre wasted no time in applying a second stinging stroke. He paused for a moment, but when he had heard himself being called a ‘coward’ and a ‘scoundrel’, all his compassion vanished like a puff of smoke. Now he whipped with hard and quick strokes. And all that could be heard in the room was his harsh breathing, the relentless whistling of the riding crop, the crisp sound of it whacking across the taut silk, thinly covering its target and the anguished cries and groans of his suffering wife…’
Originally published in French in 1908, The Conjugal Whip tells the story of two families and of how the whip and birch rod were introduced to great effect, despite the initial protests of both the young wives. When Léonie’s hen-pecked father discovers his new son-in-law thrashing his daughter he is naturally furious. But after eventually being placated he is persuaded to use the same treatment to tame his dominating wife!

This edition includes the eight original illustrations by del Giglio.