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* DeathGlare: Sandy's "dour Calvinisticall stare", as Clorinda puts it.
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* DomesticAbuser: The Earl of Nuttenford is a chillingly cold one.
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* DomesticAbuser: DomesticAbuser:
** Darton Kendall, who violently abuses his wife and forces her to have sex with other men when it's advantageous to him. [[spoiler:This eventually drives her to murder.]]
** The Earl of Nuttenford is a chillingly coldone.one, whose abusiveness manifests not so much in direct physical or emotional violence as in his utter indifference to the physical and emotional welfare of his wife and children.
** Darton Kendall, who violently abuses his wife and forces her to have sex with other men when it's advantageous to him. [[spoiler:This eventually drives her to murder.]]
** The Earl of Nuttenford is a chillingly cold
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* TheSociopath: The concept doesn't exist at the time, but Nuttenford's combination of self-centeredness, utter, depraved indifference to the physical and emotional welfare of anyone else, and murderous vindictiveness when his anger is aroused strongly suggests it.
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* NobilityMarriesMoney: A running issue in the earlier part of the story involves Viola Knowles and her wealthy, non-noble parents' desperation to get her married to someone with a title.
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''The Comfortable Courtesan'' is a WebSerialNovel by L A Hall, initially published as a Dreamwidth blog from 2015-7 (regular daily chapters, a number of side stories and future stories have been posted irregularly since), and then from 2017 on as a series of [[https://www.clorinda.org/ ebooks and hard-copy collections]]. It is loosely within the [[RegencyEngland Regency Romance]] subgenre, although the author, a professional historian and a feminist, is interested in both historical accuracy and the depiction of less mainstream sexual orientations and relationship styles than was common until the 2010s in genre romance.
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''The Comfortable Courtesan'' is a WebSerialNovel by L A Hall, initially published as a Dreamwidth blog from 2015-7 (regular daily chapters, chapters ended then, a number of side stories and future stories have been posted irregularly since), and then from 2017 on as a series of [[https://www.clorinda.org/ ebooks and hard-copy collections]]. It is loosely within the [[RegencyEngland Regency Romance]] subgenre, although the author, a professional historian and a feminist, is interested in both historical accuracy and the depiction of less mainstream sexual orientations and relationship styles than was common until the 2010s in genre romance.
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* EliteManCourtesanRomance: Subverted. Everyone believes that Clorinda and Lord Raxdell are an example of this, but she's actually TheBeard for him, although they are very close friends. The men who Clorinda has most emotional feelings towards tend not to be of the highest class.
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* EliteManCourtesanRomance: EliteManCourtesanRomance:
** Subverted. Everyone believes that Clorinda and Lord Raxdell are an example of this, but she's actually TheBeard for him, although they are very close friends. The men who Clorinda has most emotional feelings towards tend not to be of the highestclass.class.
** Happens for real in a gay version with Bexbury and Marcello, although [[spoiler:Bexbury died still believing that Marcello was only in it for the money.]]
** Subverted. Everyone believes that Clorinda and Lord Raxdell are an example of this, but she's actually TheBeard for him, although they are very close friends. The men who Clorinda has most emotional feelings towards tend not to be of the highest
** Happens for real in a gay version with Bexbury and Marcello, although [[spoiler:Bexbury died still believing that Marcello was only in it for the money.]]
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* ManlyGay: Lord Raxdell is a widely-admired swordsman and sportsman with all the manly virtues.
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* ManlyGay: ManlyGay:
** Lord Raxdell is a widely-admired swordsman and sportsman with all the manlyvirtues.virtues.
** Bexbury's lover Marcello is an extremely handsome LatinLover who is very good with a knife.
** Lord Raxdell is a widely-admired swordsman and sportsman with all the manly
** Bexbury's lover Marcello is an extremely handsome LatinLover who is very good with a knife.
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* MarriageOfConvenience: [[spoiler:Clorinda marries the gay and dying Marquess of Bexbury, mostly to spite his heir, her old enemy Gorston, and to ensure that his unentailed assets will be disposed of as he wants them to be.]]
* PoisonousFriend: Bexbury's lover Marcello is very keen on using his stiletto on people who he thinks are a threat to Clorinda and others.
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** There is also just a little ambiguity about whether von Ehleben accidentally fell off the balcony or not.
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** There is also just a little ambiguity about whether von Ehleben accidentally fell off the balcony or not.not.
* WriteWhoYouKnow: In-universe, many characters in Clorinda's novels are based on her friends and enemies.
* WriteWhoYouKnow: In-universe, many characters in Clorinda's novels are based on her friends and enemies.
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* DeathByChildbirth:
** [[spoiler:Clorinda only narrowly survives Flora's birth.]]
** [[spoiler:The first Duchess of Mulcaster dies suddenly shortly after her son's birth.]]
** [[spoiler:Clorinda only narrowly survives Flora's birth.]]
** [[spoiler:The first Duchess of Mulcaster dies suddenly shortly after her son's birth.]]
* IncompatibleOrientation:
** A running gag with Sandy, first when Viola Knowles proposes to him out of misplaced guilt and nobility, and then when he and Lady Jane find themselves questioning their orientations after [[GeekyTurnOn studying together]].
** Miss Addington has a long-term desire for Clorinda, who [[spoiler:is very picky about women]].
* IntimatePsychotherapy: [[spoiler:Clorinda shocks Biffle out of his initial grief-stricken catatonia over his wife's death by having sex with him, and continues to regularly comfort him in that way for some time afterwards.]]
** A running gag with Sandy, first when Viola Knowles proposes to him out of misplaced guilt and nobility, and then when he and Lady Jane find themselves questioning their orientations after [[GeekyTurnOn studying together]].
** Miss Addington has a long-term desire for Clorinda, who [[spoiler:is very picky about women]].
* IntimatePsychotherapy: [[spoiler:Clorinda shocks Biffle out of his initial grief-stricken catatonia over his wife's death by having sex with him, and continues to regularly comfort him in that way for some time afterwards.]]
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* QuestionableConsent: Clorinda's encounter with the smuggler Jones, in which he seems to be about to rape her until she manages to seduce him in a more genteel way.
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* QuestionableConsent: QuestionableConsent:
** Clorinda's encounter with the smuggler Jones, in which he seems to be about to rape her until she manages to seduce him in a more genteelway.way.
** [[spoiler:Clorinda's IntimatePsychotherapy with Biffle ended well, but it's a bit questionable that he was so mentally disturbed the first time that he didn't recognise her until after they'd completed the act.]]
** Clorinda's encounter with the smuggler Jones, in which he seems to be about to rape her until she manages to seduce him in a more genteel
** [[spoiler:Clorinda's IntimatePsychotherapy with Biffle ended well, but it's a bit questionable that he was so mentally disturbed the first time that he didn't recognise her until after they'd completed the act.]]
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** Clorinda never states [[spoiler:exactly when she first slept with Eliza]], although a third-person later post on the blog explains that it was [[spoiler:both the Ferrabys rushed to join her after Sandy told Josiah she was pregnant by him]].
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** Clorinda never states [[spoiler:exactly when she first slept with Eliza]], although a third-person later post on the blog explains that it was [[spoiler:both [[spoiler:when both the Ferrabys rushed to join her after Sandy told Josiah she was pregnant by him]].
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''The Comfortable Courtesan'' is a WebSerialNovel by L A Hall, initially published as a Dreamwidth blog from 2015-7, and then from 2017 on as a series of [[https://www.clorinda.org/ ebooks and hard-copy collections]]. It is loosely within the [[RegencyEngland Regency Romance]] subgenre, although the author, a professional historian and a feminist, is interested in both historical accuracy and the depiction of less mainstream sexual orientations and relationship styles than was common until the 2010s in genre romance.
to:
''The Comfortable Courtesan'' is a WebSerialNovel by L A Hall, initially published as a Dreamwidth blog from 2015-7, 2015-7 (regular daily chapters, a number of side stories and future stories have been posted irregularly since), and then from 2017 on as a series of [[https://www.clorinda.org/ ebooks and hard-copy collections]]. It is loosely within the [[RegencyEngland Regency Romance]] subgenre, although the author, a professional historian and a feminist, is interested in both historical accuracy and the depiction of less mainstream sexual orientations and relationship styles than was common until the 2010s in genre romance.
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* HotForPreacher: All of Clorinda's female servants for Elisha Roberts. Since he's a lay preacher, and Methodists don't require celibacy even for ordained ministers, there's no impediment to a happy ending when he marries Seraphine.
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** The sudden revelation shortly after [[spoiler:Clorinda's pregnancy is revealed to the Ferrabys]] that [[spoiler:Clorinda has been having sex with Eliza for some time, which she never previously mentioned to the reader but presumably began at some point during their trip to Harrogate]].
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** The sudden revelation shortly Clorinda never states [[spoiler:exactly when she first slept with Eliza]], although a third-person later post on the blog explains that it was [[spoiler:both the Ferrabys rushed to join her after [[spoiler:Clorinda's pregnancy is revealed to the Ferrabys]] that [[spoiler:Clorinda has been having sex with Eliza for some time, which Sandy told Josiah she never previously mentioned to the reader but presumably began at some point during their trip to Harrogate]].was pregnant by him]].
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* ButICantBePregnant: [[spoiler:Downplayed, Clorinda was told that she wouldn't be able to conceive after the injuries von Ehleben inflicted on her, although she still uses contraceptives as a precaution, the need for which becomes clear after she gets pregnant by Josiah.]]
* RescueIntroduction: In the backstory, when it's revealed that Hector's first introduction to Clorinda was rescuing her when von Ehleben tried to kill her.
* SpellMyNameWithAThe: Clorinda almost always refers to von Ehleben simply as "the Junker", as she hates him so much and his attempted murder of her was so traumatising that she can't bear to speak or write his name.
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* UnreliableNarrator: The sudden revelation shortly after [[spoiler:Clorinda's pregnancy is revealed to the Ferrabys]] that [[spoiler:Clorinda has been having sex with Eliza for some time, which she never previously mentioned to the reader but presumably began at some point during their trip to Harrogate]].
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* UnreliableNarrator: UnreliableNarrator:
** The sudden revelation shortly after [[spoiler:Clorinda's pregnancy is revealed to the Ferrabys]] that [[spoiler:Clorinda has been having sex with Eliza for some time, which she never previously mentioned to the reader but presumably began at some point during their trip toHarrogate]].Harrogate]].
** There is also just a little ambiguity about whether von Ehleben accidentally fell off the balcony or not.
** The sudden revelation shortly after [[spoiler:Clorinda's pregnancy is revealed to the Ferrabys]] that [[spoiler:Clorinda has been having sex with Eliza for some time, which she never previously mentioned to the reader but presumably began at some point during their trip to
** There is also just a little ambiguity about whether von Ehleben accidentally fell off the balcony or not.
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* InverseLawOfFertility: [[spoiler:Clorinda gets pregnant after once forgetting in the heat of the moment to use protection with Josiah.]]
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* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:Clorinda giving her daughter Flora to the Ferrabys, although Josiah is genuinely Flora's father and Clorinda still plays a big part in her life]].
* QuestionableConsent: Clorinda's encounter with the smuggler Jones, in which he seems to be about to rape her until she manages to seduce him in a more genteel way.
** Mrs. O'Callaghan's ''extremely plain'' son.
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* SinisterMinister: The Reverend Mr. Gorston, [[spoiler:later Marquess of Bexbury]], who starts off as simply annoying and is gradually revealed to be truly villainous.
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* SinisterMinister: The Reverend Mr. Gorston, [[spoiler:later Marquess of Bexbury]], who starts off as simply annoying and bigoted and is gradually revealed to be truly villainous.
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* UnproblematicProstitution: Explored in great depth. Clorinda is entirely happy to be a prostitute, but a major subject of the story is the amount of effort and intelligence that it takes her to keep things positive for herself, and she still sometimes fails to escape some of the hazards of the lifestyle.
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* UnproblematicProstitution: Explored in great depth. Clorinda is entirely happy to be a prostitute, but a major subject of the story is the amount of effort and intelligence that it takes her to keep things positive for herself, and she still sometimes fails to escape some of the hazards of the lifestyle.lifestyle.
* UnreliableNarrator: The sudden revelation shortly after [[spoiler:Clorinda's pregnancy is revealed to the Ferrabys]] that [[spoiler:Clorinda has been having sex with Eliza for some time, which she never previously mentioned to the reader but presumably began at some point during their trip to Harrogate]].
* UnreliableNarrator: The sudden revelation shortly after [[spoiler:Clorinda's pregnancy is revealed to the Ferrabys]] that [[spoiler:Clorinda has been having sex with Eliza for some time, which she never previously mentioned to the reader but presumably began at some point during their trip to Harrogate]].
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* DirectLineToTheAuthor: In framing material in the ebook and print versions, Hall pretends that the book is an actual nineteenth-century memoir discovered in the loft of an English stately home. (It's clearly fictional, as the stately home is a fictional one named within the narrative.)
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* EliteManCourtesanRomance: Subverted. Everyone believes that Clorinda and Lord Raxdell are an example of this, but she's actually TheBeard for him, although they are very close friends. The men who Clorinda has most emotional feelings towards tend not to be of the highest class.
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* TheJeeves: The imperturbable and intelligent Hector, Clorinda's butler and bouncer.
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* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: There's a lot of Good Adultery, justified because the cheated-on spouse is [[TheBeard gay]], just doesn't care, or is taking-part in a three-way.
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** No-one supposing that Raoul de Clerault could be a Frenchman.
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** Clorinda claiming to be just a foolish, frivolous creature whenever she's just done anything particularly calculating.
** Clorinda hitting Sandy with her fan and accusing him of flattering her.
** Clorinda hitting Sandy with her fan and accusing him of flattering her.
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* AutoeroticAsphyxiation: A minor member of Lord Raxdell's set dies this way, and the death is initially mistaken for murder.
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* CampGay: Maurice the male ladies' fashion designer. It's natural, but he also plays it up to ensure that his clients' husbands or lovers aren't jealous.
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* TheDandy: Lord Raxdell is a famous fashion plate, and Danvers Dalrymple is an aspirant one.
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* HeelFaceTurn: Viola and Sebastian Knowles are the antagonists of the first major plot arc, but later make friends with Clorinda (they were very young initially and were being manipulated by the malevolent Mr. O'Callaghan).
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* ManlyGay: Lord Raxdell is a widely-admired swordsman and sportsman with all the manly virtues.
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* ShoutOut: Clorinda reads books including ''The Vindication of the Rights of Women'', ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', and ''Literature/{{Emma}}''.
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* UnexpectedInheritance: The inheritance from General Yeomans that starts Clorinda towards financial success.
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* GeekyTurnOn:
** The courtship of Miss Gowing and Mr. Thorne, over probability.
** The courtship of the Rev. Mr. Lucas and Agnes Simpson, over theology and classics.
** Narrowly averted due to IncompatibleOrientation between Sandy and Lady Jane, over classics.
** The courtship of Miss Gowing and Mr. Thorne, over probability.
** The courtship of the Rev. Mr. Lucas and Agnes Simpson, over theology and classics.
** Narrowly averted due to IncompatibleOrientation between Sandy and Lady Jane, over classics.
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** Getting rid of troublesome people by sending them to the USA.
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* SubordinateExcuse: Sandy is officially Lord Raxdell's secretary.
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* IfItsYouItsOK: [[spoiler:Eliza]] is never indicated to be attracted to any woman other than [[spoiler:Clorinda]].
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* CastFullOfGay: Less than 50%, but there are a significant number of LGBT characters to make it clear that they existed in history. For example, [[spoiler:Clorinda and Eliza are bisexual]], Lord Raxdell and Sandy are a gay couple, Lady Jane is lesbian, and Docket is a trans woman.
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* CastFullOfGay: Less than 50%, but there are a significant number of LGBT characters to make it clear that they existed in history. For example, [[spoiler:Clorinda and Eliza are bisexual]], Lord Raxdell and Sandy are a gay couple, Lady Jane is lesbian, Belinda, Marchioness of Bexbury, is asexual, and Docket is a trans woman.
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* {{Polyamory}}: Clorinda has no issue with loving multiple people, and ends up [[spoiler:in a three-way relationship with the Ferrabys while continuing to have the odd fling]].
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* {{Polyamory}}: Clorinda has no issue with loving multiple people, and ends up [[spoiler:in a three-way relationship with the Ferrabys while continuing to have the odd fling]]. The lack of concern with fidelity among parts of the Regency upper class is also depicted.
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* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Averted - despite the concern for cultural accuracy no real historical figures appear outside hearsay and allusion.
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%% Note to the P5 committee, despite the subject matter this is NOT a pornographic work and has very few even mildly explicit sex scenes, although rather more where sex is implied to be imminent/just-finished.
''The Comfortable Courtesan'' is a WebSerialNovel by L A Hall, initially published as a Dreamwidth blog from 2015-7, and then from 2017 on as a series of [[https://www.clorinda.org/ ebooks and hard-copy collections]]. It is loosely within the [[RegencyEngland Regency Romance]] subgenre, although the author, a professional historian and a feminist, is interested in both historical accuracy and the depiction of less mainstream sexual orientations and relationship styles than was common until the 2010s in genre romance.
The story deals with Madame Clorinda Cathcart, an '''extremely''' [[HighClassCallGirl High Class Courtesan]] in Regency London, along with her clients, servants, friends, and enemies. As well as managing her own life with great success, Clorinda is also addicted to [[TheSocialExpert gently manipulating everyone around her]] in the cause of ''maximising felicity''.
----
!!The Comfortable Courtesan contains the following tropes:
* AnimalAssassin: Nuttenford's downfall comes after he [[VillainousBreakdown loses control]] and sends Clorinda a live (stolen) cobra in a parcel.
* TheBeard:
** Clorinda to Lord Raxdell.
** Lady Zellen to Sir Hartley, after Clorinda explains things to her.
** Admiral Knighton to Lady Jane, although [[AllLesbiansWantKids she still has a child with him]].
* CastFullOfGay: Less than 50%, but there are a significant number of LGBT characters to make it clear that they existed in history. For example, [[spoiler:Clorinda and Eliza are bisexual]], Lord Raxdell and Sandy are a gay couple, Lady Jane is lesbian, and Docket is a trans woman.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Von Ehleben falls to his death from a balcony due to shock at seeing Clorinda, who he apparently believed he had murdered.
* DomesticAbuser: The Earl of Nuttenford is a chillingly cold one.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averted. The story makes it very clear that, yes, non-white and LGBT people did exist in reasonable numbers in early-19th-century London. However, Clorinda and her circle are explicitly unusually liberal, and period racism and homophobia are depicted.
* {{Polyamory}}: Clorinda has no issue with loving multiple people, and ends up [[spoiler:in a three-way relationship with the Ferrabys while continuing to have the odd fling]].
* RunningGag:
** The wombatt.
** German characters turning out to be villainous to some degree.
* ScaryBlackMan: Hector is very effective at this on the rare occasions when it is necessary.
* SinisterMinister: The Reverend Mr. Gorston, [[spoiler:later Marquess of Bexbury]], who starts off as simply annoying and is gradually revealed to be truly villainous.
* TheSocialExpert: Clorinda's success is down to this as well as beauty - sexual skills are if anything the least important elements of succeeding as a courtesan.
* SpellMyNameWithABlank: The main narrative does this for all middle- and upper-class characters, in the style of the era. The ebook and print versions include a list at the beginning giving all the characters' full names.
* TakeThat: The opening lines of the story:
-->I shall not say how, and why, at the age of 15 I became the mistress of the Earl of Craven, because I never had the kind of opportunities that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriette_Wilson Harriette Wilson]] wast'd.
* UnproblematicProstitution: Explored in great depth. Clorinda is entirely happy to be a prostitute, but a major subject of the story is the amount of effort and intelligence that it takes her to keep things positive for herself, and she still sometimes fails to escape some of the hazards of the lifestyle.
''The Comfortable Courtesan'' is a WebSerialNovel by L A Hall, initially published as a Dreamwidth blog from 2015-7, and then from 2017 on as a series of [[https://www.clorinda.org/ ebooks and hard-copy collections]]. It is loosely within the [[RegencyEngland Regency Romance]] subgenre, although the author, a professional historian and a feminist, is interested in both historical accuracy and the depiction of less mainstream sexual orientations and relationship styles than was common until the 2010s in genre romance.
The story deals with Madame Clorinda Cathcart, an '''extremely''' [[HighClassCallGirl High Class Courtesan]] in Regency London, along with her clients, servants, friends, and enemies. As well as managing her own life with great success, Clorinda is also addicted to [[TheSocialExpert gently manipulating everyone around her]] in the cause of ''maximising felicity''.
----
!!The Comfortable Courtesan contains the following tropes:
* AnimalAssassin: Nuttenford's downfall comes after he [[VillainousBreakdown loses control]] and sends Clorinda a live (stolen) cobra in a parcel.
* TheBeard:
** Clorinda to Lord Raxdell.
** Lady Zellen to Sir Hartley, after Clorinda explains things to her.
** Admiral Knighton to Lady Jane, although [[AllLesbiansWantKids she still has a child with him]].
* CastFullOfGay: Less than 50%, but there are a significant number of LGBT characters to make it clear that they existed in history. For example, [[spoiler:Clorinda and Eliza are bisexual]], Lord Raxdell and Sandy are a gay couple, Lady Jane is lesbian, and Docket is a trans woman.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Von Ehleben falls to his death from a balcony due to shock at seeing Clorinda, who he apparently believed he had murdered.
* DomesticAbuser: The Earl of Nuttenford is a chillingly cold one.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averted. The story makes it very clear that, yes, non-white and LGBT people did exist in reasonable numbers in early-19th-century London. However, Clorinda and her circle are explicitly unusually liberal, and period racism and homophobia are depicted.
* {{Polyamory}}: Clorinda has no issue with loving multiple people, and ends up [[spoiler:in a three-way relationship with the Ferrabys while continuing to have the odd fling]].
* RunningGag:
** The wombatt.
** German characters turning out to be villainous to some degree.
* ScaryBlackMan: Hector is very effective at this on the rare occasions when it is necessary.
* SinisterMinister: The Reverend Mr. Gorston, [[spoiler:later Marquess of Bexbury]], who starts off as simply annoying and is gradually revealed to be truly villainous.
* TheSocialExpert: Clorinda's success is down to this as well as beauty - sexual skills are if anything the least important elements of succeeding as a courtesan.
* SpellMyNameWithABlank: The main narrative does this for all middle- and upper-class characters, in the style of the era. The ebook and print versions include a list at the beginning giving all the characters' full names.
* TakeThat: The opening lines of the story:
-->I shall not say how, and why, at the age of 15 I became the mistress of the Earl of Craven, because I never had the kind of opportunities that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriette_Wilson Harriette Wilson]] wast'd.
* UnproblematicProstitution: Explored in great depth. Clorinda is entirely happy to be a prostitute, but a major subject of the story is the amount of effort and intelligence that it takes her to keep things positive for herself, and she still sometimes fails to escape some of the hazards of the lifestyle.
