The Big Class (Black Lace Series) [Paperback]

Angel Strand (Author)

Book Description

Series: Black Lace Series | Publication Date: August 1996

It is 1930s Europe, and Cia, a young Anglo-Italian, has problems. Her Italian lover has disappeared and she has become embroiled in her English friends' rivalries and forbidden pleasures. It is only a matter of time before her two worlds collide, and everyone has to face their responsibilities.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Angel Strand is the author of the Black Lace titles: La Basquaise, The Big Class and Undressing The Devil.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Pub (Mm); paperback / softback edition (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0352330767
• ISBN-13: 978-0352330765
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,016,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful erotic adventures of a young woman during WWII, October 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Class (Black Lace Series) (Paperback)

Well written erotic adventures of a soulful young woman during WWII. Cia is taken in hand by the ultimate man of her dreams, only to lose him to the war. She then continues on to England to find happiness in a simple, charming cottage near her childhood sweetheart. Very sensual and erotic - written especially for woman.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as Good as Some Other Black Lace Books, April 20, 2002

By 

Evan Miller "Hedonist and All Around Geek" (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Big Class (Black Lace Series) (Paperback)

I was a little disappointed in this book. I have read many other Black Lace books whose plots, while sometimes hokey or cheesy, have a better sence of cohesion than this one did.

The story centers around Cia Finnemore during the 30's, just prior to the outbreak of WW2. An English girl who travels to Italy with a member of The Big Class (a term used for the rich English) named Dianna as her travel companion. After sleeping with Dianna's son, and making a scene at the local lords manor saying she is his daughter, Dianna kicks her out to find her own way home.

On her way to England, circumstances thrust her into the arms of Giordano, a communist who publishes fliers speaking out against Mussolini's fascist regime. She falls in love with him, but eventually the Black Shirts come for him.

Cia manages to escape and make her way back to England, peniless. There she mourns the loss of Giordano but eventually gets together with an old childhood crush. Meanwhile, Angelina, the daughter of the Italian lord, plots to have Cia killed because her father changed his will to leave his money to Cia.

The story was only mediocre, but had a lot of potential. Plot elements seemed to flit around as if they didn't have much purpose. While the main story centered around Cia, and to some extent, Angelina, it seemed to focus on other characters more than it should. We would glimpse into the lives of other characters, who didn't have much to do with the overarching plot, for an inordinate amount of time, such as with Dianna. We meet her early in the book when she kicks Cia out, then she reappears later and we spend a good bit of time reading about her and then she's dropped. We spent some time with Angelina, but she still came off as two-dimensional with no clear basis for her motivations, and the rivalry ends quickly and unsatisfactorily. To many seeming plot elements come into play and then are suddenly dropped and forgotten. Even when Cia gets the bad news about Giordano in England, she is devastated, then she seems to recover quite nicely.

The sex in the book wasn't even up to Black Lace standards. While still erotic, the prose wasn't as crisp and evocative as other writer's in the series have achieved.

Not bad for a guilty read, but not the best either.