All thoughts of Holy Orders, nursing and office work have finally been abandoned in this book as Jean takes stock of her situation and with great excitement decides to apply for a job as a showgirl at a London night club where she soon becomes acquainted with the infamous Stephen Ward. This is the nineteen sixties and as a night club hostess Jean frequently meets a segment of the criminal classes such as the notorious Kray Brothers and the Richardson Gang, better known as The South London Torturers.
She also meets Vidar, the man destined to have the most influence over her life and falls precipitously in love. Ever hopeful of meeting his expectations that she should become what he calls `a real woman’ she becomes involved in more and more extreme sexual behavior as together they attend sado-masochistic parties given variously by Clive, a prominent London barrister and married couple, Mariella Novotny and Hod Dibben.
But what Jean begins to yearn for is an ordinary life as a wife and mother and in desperation she visits a fortune teller who tells her she will soon have a child and will marry a man with the initials GH. When she becomes pregnant and is ordered by her lover to abort their child she takes drastic measures in order to preserve the baby. Vidar attempts to control her actions with threats of magic, demons and ongoing curses and finally attempts to abort the child himself. Jean is determined to outwit him and weaves her own web of enchantment in an attempt to protect her very prematurely born son.
She applies for a job with Madam Connie who runs a smart business in Belgravia catering to a wide range of sexual deviants. She also takes occasional typing jobs with Harley Street specialists and in her spare time begins to write articles and short stories for magazines.
Finally the fortune teller’s prophecy is revealed as uncannily accurate when Jean re-meets the man she will marry, a New Zealand doctor whose initials are GH.
She also meets Vidar, the man destined to have the most influence over her life and falls precipitously in love. Ever hopeful of meeting his expectations that she should become what he calls `a real woman’ she becomes involved in more and more extreme sexual behavior as together they attend sado-masochistic parties given variously by Clive, a prominent London barrister and married couple, Mariella Novotny and Hod Dibben.
But what Jean begins to yearn for is an ordinary life as a wife and mother and in desperation she visits a fortune teller who tells her she will soon have a child and will marry a man with the initials GH. When she becomes pregnant and is ordered by her lover to abort their child she takes drastic measures in order to preserve the baby. Vidar attempts to control her actions with threats of magic, demons and ongoing curses and finally attempts to abort the child himself. Jean is determined to outwit him and weaves her own web of enchantment in an attempt to protect her very prematurely born son.
She applies for a job with Madam Connie who runs a smart business in Belgravia catering to a wide range of sexual deviants. She also takes occasional typing jobs with Harley Street specialists and in her spare time begins to write articles and short stories for magazines.
Finally the fortune teller’s prophecy is revealed as uncannily accurate when Jean re-meets the man she will marry, a New Zealand doctor whose initials are GH.
