History Literature / ABrothersPrice

* YourMakeupIsRunning: Cira puts lip paint on Jerin to better disguise him as a whore, then they start kissing and she laughingly says she'll have to do it over.

''[[Literature/ABrothersPrice A Brother's Price]]'' is an alternate universe novel by WenSpencer.

* Pun: When discussing whores--women who service women for money--Jerin naively says they lack [[UnusualEuphemism certain vital equipment]], and Cira tells him they wear ivory prosthetics referred to as bones.

* [[spoiler: BigBadFriend: Kij Porter to Rennsellaer.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The men-as-property and polygamy aspects aside, the whole family is usually held accountable for the actions of one member so that a family can't simply commit treason and then sacrifice one person, becoming more willing to repeat the offense as revenge. This means that if treason is committed, the whole family is executed down to the children. Ren is distressed at the thought of killing [[spoiler: her little 'niece' Eldest Porter, but the Whistlers [[TakeAThirdOption took a third option]] and adopt her without telling her what her mothers did.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The men-as-property and polygamy aspects aside, the whole family is usually held accountable for the actions of one member so that a family can't simply commit treason and then sacrifice one person, becoming more willing to repeat the offense as revenge. This means that if treason is committed, the whole family is executed down to the children. Ren is distressed at the thought of killing [[spoiler: her little 'niece' Eldest Porter, but the Whistlers TakeAThirdOption and adopt her without telling her what her mothers did.]]

* TheJailBaitWait / WifeHusbandry: Sort of. When a man is married into a family, he marries ''all'' of the sisters, including those who are too young--including children and any unborn or yet-to-be-conceived daughters of the mothers. He's not to service his wives until they are of age, and a chunk of the responsibility for caring for and nurturing younger wives falls to him.

* FullyClothedNudity: A nightdress that falls to the knee. It's practically as decent as a walking robe! ...Only not.

* DefiledForever: For men and women both, sex outside of marriage is seen as very sketchy due to the fear of venereal disease. In this world such diseases can be tested for, but the stigma remains. Jerin is terrified of this fate, knowing that his family's economic future rides on the "brother's price" they'll get from him; if he is raped, then in order to pay off their debts, they'll have to sell him to a coop where he'll be numbered and drugged and forced to service women night after night.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: When abducted, Jerin plays up his own feelings of helplessness and acts childish.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Keifer was assigned to have the older princesses go to a theater so when it caught fire they would be killed. It was specifically chosen so he could duck out the back and escape, but he missed his cue and stayed; Eldest Porter came to fetch him but was killed along with too.]]

* WhatBeautifulEyes: When Jerin first sees Cira, he's struck first by the scar on her face, then by the fact that it gives her face a degree of character and boldness that it otherwise lacks, and ''then'' she lifts his veil-

* ChivalrousPervert: Cullen Moorland, the only non-Whistler male to have a speaking role in the book, and his cousin the princess Lylia, who smuggles him lewd tinytypes and educates him on what she knows. They have a pact that whoever has sex first tells the other everything. Cullen is seen as harmless and kind of adorable, Jerin finds Lylia slightly threatening in an exciting way.

* ChekovsSkill: Set up far, far in advance and referenced a few times to keep the reader's memory fresh. [[spoiler: Jerin was taught to read and write, and how to run, climb, ride, shoot, and defend himself, as well as how to pick locks, use sleight of hand, and know when to lie. He's still a NonActionGuy, but [[SpiritedYoungLady spirited about it]].]]

* AerithAndBob: Here are the names of the Whistler children - there are a total of twenty-eight girls/women and four boys - given in order of mention: Jerin, Corelle, Eldest, Pansy, Violet, Kai, Doric, Leia, Blush, Summer, Eva, Kira, Heria, Liam, Emma, Celain, Kettie, Birdie, and Bunny. Not all are named in the book.

* DefiledForever: For men and women both, sex outside of marriage is seen as very sketchy due to the fear of STDs. In this world such diseases can be tested for, but the stigma remains. Jerin is terrified of this fate, knowing that his family's economic future rides on the "brother's price" they'll get from him; if he is raped then in order to pay off their debts they'll have to sell him to a coop where he'll be numbered and drugged and forced to service women night after night.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Completely averted. Actually seems to go the other way around; [[spoiler: Kiefer, who was married to the princesses, fought often with the then thirteen-year-old Trini, and at one point stunned her with a blow to the head, tied her to his bed, and abused her. He 'serviced' her, but in-universe this was seen as less awful than breaking her nose and some of her fingers, blacking her eyes, burning her with a hot iron, and threatening to cut her face.]]

* InformedAttractiveness: Inasmuch as this is possible in a nonillustrated book. Egan Wainwright was repeatedly called handsome, to the point of being shown to visiting royalty. When he's found murdered and [[ShamefulStrip stripped]], the narration says he had "no dignity in death" and notes scrawny hairy legs and a paunchy stomach. Somewhat justified, though; this ''is'' a world where men are so rare and so rarely seen that any one with all his teeth and both eyes is considered attractive.

* IWishedYouWereDead: Princess Halley said she wished Keifer was dead the moment before a bomb went off in the theater he - and several of her older sisters - were inside of.
* TheJailBaitWait / WifeHusbandry: Sort of. When a man is married into a family, he marries ''all'' of the sisters, including those who are too young - including children and any unborn or yet-to-be-conceived daughters of the mothers. He's not to service his wives until they are of age, and a chunk of the responsibility for caring for and nurturing younger wives falls to him.

* Pun: When discussing whores - women who service women for money - Jerin naively says they lack [[UnusualEuphemism certain vital equipment]], and Cira tells him they wear ivory prosthetics referred to as bones.

* TerrifiedOfGerms: Well, of sexually transmitted diseases. Since a man marries every sister in a family and is expected to service any of them who are of age, a single member of that group with an STD will pass it on to all of them, which in several cases has led to that family dying out. Fear of STDs has really affected the culture.

''[Literature/ABrothersPrice]]'' is an alternate universe novel by WenSpencer.

''[[http://www.wenspencer.com/a-brothers-price/ A Brother's Price]]'' is an alternate universe novel by WenSpencer.

This book is partly speculative fiction, partly something of a RomanceNovel, in which gender roles are [[StereotypeFlip largely reversed]].

* DefiledForever: For men and women both, sex outside of marriage is seen as very sketchy due to the fear of [=STDs=]. In this world such diseases can be tested for, but the stigma remains. Jerin is terrified of this fate, knowing that his family's economic future rides on the "brother's price" they'll get from him; if he is raped then in order to pay off their debts they'll have to sell him to a coop where he'll be numbered and drugged and forced to service women night after night.

* TerrifiedOfGerms: Well, of sexually transmitted diseases. Since a man marries every sister in a family and is expected to service any of them who are of age, a single member of that group with an STD will pass it on to all of them, which in several cases has led to that family dying out. Fear of [=STDs=] has really affected the culture.

* UnwantedHarem: Men who marry marry all the sisters of a family at once, and these can be large. Jerin's worst nightmare is being married to the Brindle family. There are ''thirty'' of them. He'd prefer a smaller family, with only around ten women he'd be expected to "service" and perform childcare and housekeeping for.

* DefiledForever: For men and women both, sex outside of marriage is seen as very sketchy due to the fear of STDs. In this world such diseases can be tested for, but the stigma remains. Jerin is terrified of this fate, knowing that his family's economic future rides on the "brother's price" they'll get from him; if he is raped then in order to pay off their debts they'll have to sell him to a coop where he'll be numbered and drugged and forced to service women night after night.

* TerrifiedOfGerms: Well, of sexually transmitted diseases. Since a man marries every sister in a family and is expected to service any of them who are of age, a single member of that group with an STD will pass it on to all of them, which in several cases has led to that family dying out. Fear of STDs has really affected the culture.

* UnwantedHarem: Men who marry marry all the sisters of a family at once, and these can be large. Jerin's worst nightmare is being married to the Brindle family. There are ''thirty'' of them. He'd prefer a smaller family, with only around ten women he'd be expected to 'service' and perform childcare and housekeeping for.

* [[spoiler: BigBadFriend: Kij Porter to Ren.]]

* ButIWouldReallyEnjoyIt: When Ren seduces Jerin, he 'takes the edge off' of lust on both their parts by resorting to the techniques his father taught him for pleasing a woman, which are never described but appear to involve oral sex. They could go from there to outright penis-in-vagina intercourse, but with great difficulty he refrains so he can remain a TechnicalVirgin. Also, he refuses with Cira [[spoiler: until she tells him she's another of the princesses, so it's okay.]]
* ChildfreeIsNotAllowed: Averted for women; one says she can't stand being around young children with their endless energy and whining, and that's seen as unremarkable. The Brindles brother, though, doesn't take care of his little sisters/[[ParentChildIncest possible incestuous children]], which is a strike against him.

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: How Ren's father was killed [[spoiler: it was Keifer's doing, of course.]]
* TechnicalVirgin: Jerin after being seduced by Ren. He has angst over it, worrying if it means his mouth isn't virgin now, or if it's a whole package deal.
* TenderTears: Jerin cries several times over the course of the book.
* TerrifiedOfGerms: Well, of sexually transmitted diseases. Since a man marries every sister in a family and is expected to service any of them who are of age, a single member of that group with an STD will pass it on to all of them, which in several cases has led to that family dying out. Fear of STDs has really affected the culture.
* ThemeNaming: Of a sort. The firstborn female of any family is always named Eldest. The Whistlers have the Mother Eldest, the oldest of the mothers, and Eldest Whistler, the eldest of their daughters. A batch of experimental prototype cannons which were stolen before the book starts, which have a major subplot devoted to them, are called the Prophets and have names: Joan, Bonnye, Anna, Judith, Gregor, Larisa, Nane, and Ami.

* UnusualEuphemism: Sex between a man and a woman in which the man is willing is often referred to as him "servicing" her. Brothels stocked with men used to get poorer women pregnant are called "cribs".

* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: Sort of. Eldest Whistler would like to have one child before menopause. Having seen her mothers pregnant she's aware that sometimes they seem miserable, other times they almost glow, and she wants to experience it once. After that, she laughingly tells Jerin, she'll be happy to let her sisters bear the children.
* NonActionGuy: Jerin, and all other men.

This is something of a romance novel, in which gender roles are largely reversed.

* GenderRarityValue: Men are carefully secluded and protected from "husband raids", which are illegal but always at the edge of Jerin's mind. It's mentioned that outside of some public events, a woman may never see an unveiled man who isn't her father or grandfather or, if she's lucky, her brother or her husband.

* HarmlessLadyDisguise: Women are not the "harmless" sex in this world, but in a sense it still applies. Whores are women who prostitute themselves to other women and often try to look like men. At one point Jerin goes out disguised as one of them and is amazed at how little attention is paid to him.

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Somewhat, by our standards. More attention is paid to beautifying males, who have long flowing hair and do domestic things.

* TheBechedelTest: The male Jerin is one of the main viewpoint characters, but still this book passes pretty much continuously. There are so few living male characters that the handful of times he encounters one are noteworthy.

* ButIWouldReallyEnjoyIt: When Ren seduces Jerin, he 'takes the edge off' of lust on both their parts by resorting to the techniques his father taught him for pleasing a woman, which are never described but appear to involve oral sex. They could go from there to outright penis-in-vagina intercourse, but he refrains so he can remain a TechnicalVirgin, although he regrets doing so.

* LysistraGambit: Keifer often withheld sex in conjunction with throwing raging fits in order to get his wives to go along with whatever he wanted.

* BiTheWay: Cira had a lieutenant once who betrayed her.

* HarmlessLadyDisguise: Women are not the "harmless" sex in this world, but in a sense it still applies. Women who prostitute themselves to other women often try to look like men. At one point Jerin goes out disguised as one of them and is amazed at how little attention is paid to him.
* HeroicBastard: All of the Whistler grandmothers were fathered on trips to "cribs", sort of brothels that women too poor to marry visit with the aim of becoming pregnant.

* YourCheatingHeart: Cheating as seen as immensely low for all parties involved because it invites the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases running rampant. [[spoiler: Keifer cheated on his wives with his sister.]]

* DamselInDistress: The first major action Jerin takes is to go out, pick the injured princess Odelia up out of a river, and carry her home. His sister Heria found her but wasn't big or old enough to carry her so far herself, and sending out the other middle sisters to get her would leave the boys and the littlest girls mostly unprotected, so Jerin went with Heria to protect him.

* BechedelTest: The male Jerin is one of the main viewpoint characters, but still this book passes pretty much continuously. There are so few living male characters that the handful of times he encounters one are noteworthy.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The men-as-property and polygamy aspects aside, the whole family is usually held accountable for the actions of one member so that a family can't simply commit treason and then sacrifice one person, becoming more willing to repeat the offense as revenge. This means that if treason is committed, the whole family is executed down to the children. Ren is distressed at the thought of killing [[spoiler: her 'niece' Eldest Porter, but the Whistlers TakeAThirdOption and adopt her without telling her what her mothers did.]]

* ThemeNaming: Of a sort. The firstborn female of any family is always named Eldest. The Whistlers have the Mother Eldest, the oldest of the mothers, and Eldest Whistler, the eldest of their daughters.

* SuchBeautifulEyes: When Jerin first sees Cira, he's struck first by the scar on her face, then by the fact that it gives her face a degree of character and boldness that it otherwise lacks, and ''then'' she lifts his veil-

* UnwantedHarem: Men who marry marry all the sisters of a family at once, and these can be large. Jerin's worst nightmare is being married to the Brindle family. There are ''thirty'' of them. He'd prefer a smaller family, with only around ten women he'd be expected to 'service' and perform childcare and housekeeping for.