This is the second part of a 'Linton Abbey' trilogy, the first part having been entitled simply 'Linton Abbey', which provides the setting as a fictional co-educational boarding school in England. At the school, discipline is applied with an extreme imbalance, the boys being summarily punished severely using corporal techniques which routinely involve straps and canes, amongst other implements (including, in this book, the birch). In contrast, the girls completely avoid this disciplinary rigour, and are often allowed involvement in the awarding and execution of the boys' chastisements. No appeal is ever allowed, and mistakes inevitably occur, although these are broadly accepted. The story told in this slim volume concerns one such mistake, a major one which seemed to have the inevitable consequence of the expulsion of two girls. These books certainly have erotic overtones which will appeal to those interested in the chastisement of males, and Agnes Blackwood presents the scenario in a charmingly understated, almost tender, way which is very entertaining. ( )