Angus Balfour

The unexplained reference in the title to Singapore is a long-outdated topical nod towards the much publicised corporal punishment of Michael Fay in that place. The book is a (probably fictional, but nevertheless credible) account of the use of such measures in South Africa, on young white females as a supposedly less severe alternative to incarceration in a prison or reformatory. It relates a lifetime of experience of a nursing sister given charge of the well-being of the women sentenced to summary application of the cane or strap, during the execution of their sentence. Some forty short descriptions are given, in which the sister mostly plays an active role on the bottoms of the victims, and she clearly enjoys her work. Sister Balfour's tale is told through the medium of her nephew Angus. Perhaps surprisingly for such a large number of incidents, the tales encompass a wide variety of situations, and the book therefore uniquely fills a significant gap in the canon of erotic literature. In addition, it says a lot about the colonial era, and both racial and sexist attitudes. The book announces itself as Volume 1, although it is internally divided into two 'books', and no published second volume is apparent.… (meer)