S. T. Darke

This book should be seen in the context of its genre, which may be reasonably be described as ‘erotic flagellation: sub-division – m/f heterosexual’. Much of Chimera’s output comes into this classification. Be aware that it is not in any way related to the usage of the word 'confessional' by the Catholic Church, although to an open-minded reader it may provide an amusing aside on the way authoritarian religious groups reinforce human behaviour that they deem ‘acceptable’ by the use of rigidly prescribed monitoring and punishment of errant members.
Books within this genre usually have a plot that is engineered to provide more-or-less credible situations in which a dominant male is able to exercise his predilection for chastising females in an erotic fashion. In most, and certainly in this example, the male uses such chastisements (here using a belt and other traditional implements) to stimulate his carnal lusts with the intention (implicit or explicit) of ultimately satisfying these lusts via more direct means. This particular book has the clever, apparently original idea of making its dominant male character a priest who, after a lifetime of guiding his flock using the more conventional techniques of confession, penitence and absolution, feels driven by his God to encourage his female sinners to give greater rein to their femininity, broadly defined as being submissive to their menfolk. He achieves this using a combination of assumed moral authority, verbal browbeating, and the application of vigorous chastisements to the unclothed nether (and other) parts of nubile females.
At least in the earlier parts of the book this leads to situations which devotees of the genre will find very satisfying, despite a tendency of the ‘hero’ to pontificate on his newly developing ‘religion’, both repetitively and at great length. Specifically, he uses his chastising dominance to strengthen two marriages that are imperilled by, firstly, neglect and secondly, feminist independence, on the part of wives. Encouraged by his success, he introduces his methods to his local convent, subjecting all of its inhabitants to his will with such success that he finds himself the leader of a new religion, surrounded by doting submissive women. Unfortunately, by this stage, I found that the book’s tendency to long-windedness had become tedious, and that the scope and detail of the chastisements employed were tending towards the excessive, and away from the credible. However, there are wide variations in individual taste which might find greater pleasure in such excess and not be troubled by credibility. My own suspension of disbelief petered out around half way through the book. However, as a book designed to stimulate, I found enough material that fulfilled its aim, and I am sure it will appeal to many. It is well written, and the author pays considerable attention to developing the characters of the principal participants.… (mere)