The Way of a Man With a Maid

“The Way of a Man with a Maid” is an anonymous, sadomasochistic, erotic novel, probably first published in 1908. This is one of the most famous flagellation novels originally published in the Edwardian period at the beginning of the twentieth century. The publishing history is quite complex, as there was a sequel to the original and then later additions to the story first published in the 1960’s. “The Way of a Man with a Maid” relates the adventures of the hero, a gentleman called Jack, who seduces a series of women by subjecting them to whippings until they submit to him. Some of them resist quite severe punishments while others are less resolute but all of them submit in the end. The story is told in the first person by Jack and most of it takes place in a kind of erotic torture chamber, called “The Snuggery”, in his own house.