A review by lbrex
Fanny and Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England, by Neil McKenna
4.0
_Fanny & Stella_ is an entertaining read, and I'm pleased that it will expand public knowledge about these two fascinating Victorian cross-dressing men. The information about the trial and the public's consumption of it (as well as information about reactions to Fanny and Stella's public displays) will change some people's views on the Victorian period. McKenna puts together a compelling, page-turning narrative and includes a lot of stylistic humor.
I did have some concerns with the scholarship, though. At one point (in chapter 21), McKenna presents extracts from John Saul's pornographic text, _The Sins of the Cities of the Plain_ ([b:The Sins of the Cities of the Plain|6036218|The Sins of the Cities of the Plain|Anonymous|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356176347s/6036218.jpg|42577147]), as seemingly documentary evidence for a sexual encounter between Ernest Boulton (Stella) and Lord Arthur Clinton. While there is evidence of a real sex-worker named Jack Saul, it's not clear to me that his _Sins_ purports to present records of actual encounters despite the fact that it talks about real people; I would suspect that his text is in part sexual fantasy rather than "documentary pornography". I wish that McKenna had been a bit more up-front with his readers about the highly speculative nature of Saul's (quite entertaining) narrative at that point in the book.
Also, despite the panache of Fanny and Stella, I ended up finding this story rather sad. Although the courtroom proceedings are described in a breezy, humorous way, it's clear that the health of many of the men involved in this scandal suffered greatly from the incarceration forced upon them during the trial. There is also something chilling about Fanny and Stella appearing in court, months after their arrest, with facial hair, men's clothes, and a "butched up appearance." People may survive a scandal like this, but health is clearly impacted, and both men were forced (in certain instances) to drop the gender nonconformity that seemed to give them so much pleasure.
I did have some concerns with the scholarship, though. At one point (in chapter 21), McKenna presents extracts from John Saul's pornographic text, _The Sins of the Cities of the Plain_ ([b:The Sins of the Cities of the Plain|6036218|The Sins of the Cities of the Plain|Anonymous|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356176347s/6036218.jpg|42577147]), as seemingly documentary evidence for a sexual encounter between Ernest Boulton (Stella) and Lord Arthur Clinton. While there is evidence of a real sex-worker named Jack Saul, it's not clear to me that his _Sins_ purports to present records of actual encounters despite the fact that it talks about real people; I would suspect that his text is in part sexual fantasy rather than "documentary pornography". I wish that McKenna had been a bit more up-front with his readers about the highly speculative nature of Saul's (quite entertaining) narrative at that point in the book.
Also, despite the panache of Fanny and Stella, I ended up finding this story rather sad. Although the courtroom proceedings are described in a breezy, humorous way, it's clear that the health of many of the men involved in this scandal suffered greatly from the incarceration forced upon them during the trial. There is also something chilling about Fanny and Stella appearing in court, months after their arrest, with facial hair, men's clothes, and a "butched up appearance." People may survive a scandal like this, but health is clearly impacted, and both men were forced (in certain instances) to drop the gender nonconformity that seemed to give them so much pleasure.