Review: Not so many things it should have been
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 12 10, 2012
I am a fan of historicals, as well as a writer of them. I research constantly, so when I read something that doesn't quite ring true, I am jarred. Such was the case with The Headmaster's Confession.The establish the time period, we have Bedlam and a quill thrown in, as was "I have to take my wife to a ball in two hours," but all else read like a modern day piece of not very good erotica.A jarring line in the beginning - "I pull out my watch fob and flipped it open."The following is the definition of a watch fob: watch fob, short ribbon or chain attached to a watch and hanging out of the pocket in which the watch is kept; the term can also refer to ornaments hung at the end of such a ribbon or chain. [...]The headmaster of a girl's school was referred to as my lord. The proper form of address is My Lord, but more, there is the unlikelihood of a nobleman as the active headmaster (office and all) of a girl's school. Noblemen were notoriously indolent and certainly didn't work for a living, as it was looked down upon. He might have owned a school, but actively participate in its operation - doubtful.Advertised as a Regency, one expects it to read as one, but this simply didn't. Bedlam and quill were thrown in, but that was the total of the effort to establish the time period.Disgusting, for me, was the fact that this man was a lech, who sported tented trousers every time the young girl, Miss Winters breathes. In one scene, she is sent to his office for touching herself. He asks, "Where did you touch yourself?" She answers, "Down there." *eye roll* Young girls wouldn't have discussed such things with a man, not even their father. A matron would have handled the issue. Then there is the whole issue of her being discovered doing it, but that is something else entirely.The character, Miss Haughton, had various names - Miss Loughton and Mrs. Haughton. A good editor would have caught that right away, which leads me to believe this wasn't edited at all.Modifying phrases matter. This one provides a bizarre visual:"...corset and stockings, with her breasts spilling over the top."Would a young girl's breasts spill over the top of her stockings?I suspect this was self published, which is a shame, because it truly gives credence to the argument that anyone can self publish. An editor would have never allowed this piece to carry the author's name as written.