Book Review: Dressage by Bernard Montorgueil (erotica)

Title: Dressage
Author: Bernard Montorgueil (translated by Irene Clearmont)
Publication Date: 2023
Genres: Erotica
Protagonist Gender: Male

The French works of Bernard Montorgueil began appearing with underground sellers and printers back in the 1960s. They consisted of hand-drawn erotic illustrations that echoed the style of the 1930s, accompanied by text that could have been written at any time in this century. It’s completely unknown who Montorgueil was, much less whether he was the author, the artist, or both. Original editions are rare collector’s items, with the content varying (sometimes wildly) from one edition to another.

Since there is no definitive English edition of his work, Miss Irene Clearmont set about putting together a translated version of Dressage that not only tells and shows the complete story, but explores the mystery behind it.

This new edition opens with a fascinating introduction by Miss Irene that is worth reading even if you’re already familiar with Montorgueil’s work. In it, she explores her first encounters with the book, the history behind it, her thoughts on how it came to be published, and why she feels it’s an important work to preserve and revisit. As a long-time fan of Miss Irene, it was exciting to get a glimpse of the woman behind the stories, and to share in her thoughts on fetish and fashion as it relates to Dressage. She also explains her approach to the translation, and her footnotes throughout explain why she made some of the choices that she did.

As for Dressage itself, it’s a story within a story within a story, accompanied by gorgeous black-and-white illustrations. At its heart, it’s a story of the images and the experiences to which they relate. At a layer above that, it’s a story of a young man being punished by a group of older women for having dared to peek at the images. And then, at its final layer, it’s the story of a Master and his slave discussing their reactions to the deeper stories as they enact their own scenes of domination and punishment.

Whether it’s 60 years old or 90, the activities and costumes of Dressage are still immediately familiar to anybody who has even dabbled in BDSM. It has elements and male and female domination, whipping and spanking, the use of toys, feminization, and fetish gear including stockings, boots, and corsets. It’s easy to look at the images and lose yourself in the scene, and Miss Irene’s translation makes those scenes come alive in a way that’s accessible to modern English readers.

I think what’s most marvelous about Dressage, no matter who is behind it or how it came about, is how authentic it feels, grounded in activities that feel more genuine than fantasy, and how wide of an audience it speaks to. The layers of the story allow Dom/mes and subs of all genders to find something to which they can relate, making this feel timeless.

Rating: ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀

My sincere thanks to the author for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.