💙 Professor Pounce, an expert in folklore, came to an old village called Gillenham, after learning about an ancient legend of the stone of chastity. According to the legend, there was a stepping stone on the local stream, on which a chaste woman would cross safely, but an impure or unfaithful one would certainly slip into the water.
💙 Accompanying the Professor, were the meek Mrs. Pounce, his sister in law; the idle Nicholas, his nephew; and a voluptuous girl called Carmen, whose capacity nobody knew about. They all lived in Old Manor. The Professor's first campaign for his scientific study was distributing a questionnaire on general knowledge about the stone of chastity (have you heard about it, do you know where it's located, and so on) to all the villagers, enlisting Nicholas to assist him.
💙 This questionnaire immediately stirred the village. The vicar's wife was enraged, marked it as paganism. Nicholas tried to warn the Professor about it, but to no avail. He received only one response to the questionnaire, but it's enough, because he's finally found the stone!
💙 Next step is the experiment. Professor Pounce, regardless of the women's rejection, invited all women of Gillenham to participate in the experiment (by stepping into the stone). Pious Mrs. Pye organized the village women to confront the Professor over this outrageous plan.
💙 Now, as I have said in my 1st Impression on this book, this is a ridiculous, hilarious, but clever satire. Unfortunately, I didn't feel as connected to the story as I've expected. It is quite entertaining as a book, but lacks of charm. The only interesting and relatable main character here is probably Professor Pounce. Nicholas is flimsy with all his romantic pursues; Carmen doesn't feel alive - only a voluptuous figure without soul.
If you are looking for a light, silly, ridiculous book, this would be it!
Rating: 3 / 5
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