This hugely enjoyable novel, a scandalous success in 1907, is even today, startling for its enthusiastic depiction of female sensuality. One of Virago’s trio of turn-of-the-century erotic best-sellers, with E M Hull’s The Sheik and M Dell’s The Way of an Eagle, it shows Paul Verdayne, the ‘perfect young English animal’, fascinated by a mysterious beauty at his Swiss hotel. Surrounded by tuberoses and tigerskins, ‘the Lady’ teaches him the arts of love, and gives him three weeks of tempestuous passion. Then, weeping, she renounces him and disappears, and amid high drama Paul finally discovers her august and tragic secret...

Elinor Glyn (1864-1943), born Elinor Sutherland, was a British novelist and scriptwriter who pioneered massmarket women's erotic fiction. She coined the use of It as a euphemism for sexuality, or sex appeal. Elinor was schooled by her grandmother (a minor French aristocrat) in Canada, which gave her an entree into aristocratic circles on her return to Europe and led her to be considered an authority on style and breeding when she worked in Hollywood where she promoted the concept of the vamp. She was the celebrated author of early 20th century bestsellers such as 'Beyond the Rocks' (1906), 'Three Weeks' (1907), 'It' (1927) and other novels which were then considered quite racy, as tame as they might seem now. She was a scriptwriter for the silent movie industry and had a brief career as one of the earliest female directors. Her other works include: 'The Visits of Elizabeth' (1900), 'The Reflections of Ambrosine' (1902), 'The Damsel and the Sage' (1903), 'Elizabeth Visits America' (1909), 'Halcyone' (1912), 'The Point of View' (1913), 'The Man and the Moment' (1914), and 'Man and Maid' (1922).

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.