Somehow his being a rugby-playing, Military Cross-winning officer added a certain authority to the deception. A female impersonator he might be, but nobody would ever accuse him of being a pansy. [loc. 150]
A charming novella set during and after the First World War. Sam Hines is a war hero who's hung up 'Madeleine', the female alter ego who charmed so many soldiers, with his medals. There's no place for Madeleine in peacetime -- and Sam is all too aware of how swiftly rumours about sexual deviance can ruin a man's life. Settling into normality as a stockbroker, he welcomes a new client who remembers Madeleine. Is this mere coincidence, or somebody set on blackmail?
Sam's constant fear of betrayal, and his mistrust of the likeable Jonny, felt wearing: but I suspect that's how it did feel, to know that one false step could lead to ruin. I'd have liked Sam to be slightly less ready to leap athletically to erroneous conclusions about his new friend, but I think he's dealing with a certain degree of survivors' guilt, as well as anxiety and loneliness. And I suspect he misses being Madeleine, too.
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