Publandlady: Stories

Before London had really started swinging, before the Summer of Love, there was rural England — where duty mattered, marriages endured, and women were expected not to ask for too much. But in the summer of 1964, one lonely shopkeeper begins to wonder if life has passed her by. Then, during one extraordinary afternoon, a pop group, a Mars Bar, and a tub of petroleum jelly alter a wife and mother’s life forever.

1989. In Bournemouth’s cafés and Amsterdam’s glowing windows, Sandra and Mathew discover that exhibitionism has a name — and an appetite. From teasing flashes on the promenade to scandalous performances in the Red Light District, their marriage becomes a reckless game of temptation. As the old saying goes, “if it’s not for sale, they shouldn’t put it in the window.” Just how they far are they willing to go?

In post-war Dorset, no-nonsense Doctor Andrew Craddock — a North Africa veteran — meets his match in Sister Celeste Lanyon, a dedicated nurse emotionally scarred by the Bristol Blitz. Their village practice hides her private addiction, leading Andrew deeper into her world. What begins as rural medicine becomes an old fashioned game of doctors and nurses, where boundaries dissolve and strange love proves the ultimate drug.

Dorset, 1926. Young, wealthy and afflicted by a profound boredom, a recently orphaned gentleman drifts through life with little enthusiasm for anything. Only his conversations with his loyal butler, Wilson, offer a spark of interest. When an unexpected discussion about human desire leads to a startling discovery, master and servant find themselves bound by an unusual understanding that will quietly reshape both their lives.

In 1821 Dorchester, gullible but well-endowed Barnaby marries the seductive older widow Delilah. What starts as eager nightly passion turns into cuckold delight when he spies her "fortune-telling" sessions — riding naked gentlemen for coin. Instead of fury, Barnaby grows rock-hard watching. But when his rival Colm claims her too, jealous lust leads to one ball-shattering, scandalous climax. A filthy Regency tale of naive passion, slut wife betrayal, and sticky revenge.

A seaside photographer and his mature wife grasp an opportunity. Saucy postcards lead to an Edwardian motion picture romp. Monkey business follows as the lady gets more involved than was originally planned when the upper classes get involved.

In 1911, Venn is a hermit with a murky past with no need of a wife, While Maud is conveniently married to a Dorset village clergyman. It only takes one crude question to ignite a bonfire.

In 1630s Dorset, rich and powerful Lord John possesses a beautiful, charitable wife who is the model of grace and virtue by day. When he spies Lady Mary committing a shockingly indecent act through his new telescope, their marriage ignites. The devoted couple embarks on ever-riskier adventures: she craves the thrill of losing all control to strangers, while he revels in secretly watching her delicious debauchery. A loving, wicked partnership is born.

Dorset, 1922. Farrier Eric Gange has survived the Great War and returned home determined to make his beloved wife Ada happy. But Ada's heart belongs to adventure stories, silent-film heroes and impossible romances. When "Sheik Mania" sweeps the country, Eric devises an extraordinary plan to turn fantasy into reality—with consequences far beyond anything either of them imagined.

The discovery of Granny Woodbine's Elixir for curing a limp pizzle changes everything at Broad Oaks Retirement Village. It gives ordinary people extraordinary sexual prowess and appetites. Bristol - Bruges- Chelmsford - Cincinnati - Dorchester - Gaborone - New York - San Francisco - Zurich. Their journeys to a quiet part of Dorset, England, in the early 1970s are exotic and diverse. Each one of them eventually surrenders to the control of Arthur Kemp and to the allure of the elixir.