In 1894, Ruth Smythers, 'Beloved wife of The Reverend L. D. Smythers', wrote:
'While sex is at best revolting and at worse rather painful, it has to be endured...One cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: give little, give seldom and, above all, give grudgingly! Most men are by nature rather perverted, and if given half a chance, would engage in quite a variety of the most revolting practices.'
The Methodist wife didn't intend to be amusing, but this brief treatise written for young brides is side-splitting today and an eye-opener to how mores have changed in just over a century.
It includes essential advice on: how to discourage your spouse's amorous advances; appropriate night-wear for the wedded couple; and the acceptable length and frequency of unavoidable sexual encounters.
- Hardback
- 72 pages
- Summersdale Publishers

















































