History Literature / ABrothersPrice

%%* MenDontCry: Right in the first chapter, Jerin gently chides a little sister who's bawling over a cut knee with "Hush, hush, big girls don't cry." This is a world of relatively stoic women and much more tender men who do cry. Being so rare and thus protected, men like Jerin are allowed to cry. Aside from the aforementioned little sisters, no women sheds tears in this book, not even his wife after he's kidnapped or when she thinks he's dead. She plans to sink to the ground and grieve [[VengefulWidow only after he has been avenged]].

* SecretArt: The so-called "Paths of Pleasure" is treated as this. Jerin is asked whether his grandfather passed it on to him. It is, essentially, the art of [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex keeping all wives happy]] in a polygynous marriage. Jerin is very embarrassed when asked about it-- he doesn't think it should be discussed in public.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: PlayedStraight with Jerin, as well as his grandfather Alannon, whom he remembers fondly; we learn that both he and Jerin's father gave Jerin TheTalk about pleasuring women. It is later revealed that Alannon was trained in some obscure art of lovemaking. All those men are depicted as unambiguously good people.

%% AllWomenArePrudes
* Averted in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': Women talk openly about sex, and many women are seen chasing after men they desire. Both sexes are expected to remain chaste until marriage, because of STD risk, but it's clear that most people like sex very much. (And others are just not interested in it.)

* AllMenArePerverts: Jerin Whistler can resist no pretty woman. Every attempt at seducing him is at least halfway successful. As his eldest sister points out, though, this is not entirely his fault -- he was raise never to say no to any woman, as the polygynous culture he lives in would fall apart if one of the rare men insisted on being monogamous or even celibate.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: Balin Brindle]]; he's only a minor off-screen character, but some readers would like to know whether he [[spoiler: really [[ParentalIncest "serviced" his mothers]], whether [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil it was consensual]]]] and whether he was able to marry well.

* WifeHusbandry: This aspect of Queensland marital customs is not explored but seeing as a husband is expected to care for little sisters (ie: his future wives) as well as his own children he definitely has an opportunity to mold them into the kind wives he wants them to be.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Odelia and Ren, the two princesses Jerin meets first and the two eldest (counting the absent Halley out). Odelia is happy-go-lucky and would rather kiss pretty boys than take up any royal duties. Meanwhile, Ren is TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask. This trope is {{downplayed|trope}}, because Ren is not so above kissing (and more) pretty boys herself.

* FamilyThemeNaming: Most families seen tend towards giving their kids [[AerithAndBob completely unrelated names]], but the two noted sisters of the Tern family are [[AnimalThemeNaming Raven and Hawk]].

'''Eldest''': She's a princess. All her life people have obeyed her commands. You're a boy. All your life you have listened to others. It was up to her to stop at any no you have, even if it was whispered.

** Kidnapping Jerin turns out to be a BerserkButton for all the adult princesses, who nearly get into a brawl in public over who's going to do what to rescue him. [[spoiler:When they do get him back, a combination of this and in-universe laws that ''all'' sisters are to be put to death for one's offence means they consider [[KillEmAll wiping out the entire family involved in Jerin's abduction]] the only reasonable response to this offense.]]

* NiceHat: A number of the Whistler women wear Stetsons, explicitly called that in the text. Jerin ends up needing a new travel-hat, and stitches a modesty veil to the brim to hide his face with.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are the Whistlers, a family with more than thirty children. Most of them appear in the plot. There's Jerin, Corelle, Kai, Alaric, Blush, Summer, Eldest, and a bunch of toddlers, all named. Then there are the princesses: Rensellaer, Odelia, Trini, Lylia and Halley, and their five younger sisters. And that's only two families. The Whistlers have a family branch that lives in Annaboro, and has lots of members, too. And then there are the families of minor characters...

* ChosenConceptionPartner: has male prostitutes whose sole job is to father children in a "crib", which comes in several versions: private, open to everybody and with a reputation for being plague houses, and military, based around the Order of the Sword. So being this is no great compliment to a man; only comparatively rich women or those with a brother to swap can afford to fulfil a DarwinistDesire and purchase a single husband for their family.

* IntimatePsychotherapy: Subverted, Kij Porter, a noblewoman, is said to have gone to a "crib" (a brothel), in order to cope with the death of several of her relatives. Due to high prevalence of STDs, a noblewoman wouldn't usually have sex out of wedlock, so her grief is universally considered the reason why she did something so utterly foolish. It is not mentioned whether it actually ''helped''. [[spoiler:It's later learned that she most likely did not actually use a crib, but claimed she had to cover [[BrotherSisterIncest her daughter's true paternity]].]]

* NeverLearnedToRead: Literacy is not ubiquitous in Queensland, justified given its FantasyAmericana set around 1860ish, which didn't have universal literacy either. The entirely Whistler clan being literate is a bit unusual when you include the males but their grandfather had high standards.

* SlutShaming: This still exists in a matriarchy, at least in some aspects; there is gossip about a man who was caught with his wives' servant after the engagement and before the wedding, and promptly returned to his family, as "damaged goods". Apparently, he is still able to show his face in public, but it ''is'' a stain on his reputation, especially as there is no cure for STDs. On the other hand, this trope is averted in that ''theoretical'' knowledge about sex is considered to make a man more desirable. The same applies to clothes - the codpiece is very much in fashion.

Jerin Whistler is a simple subject of Queensland where more than ninety percent of the population is female. Understandably in such a society men are a rare and valuable commodity to be bought bargained and bartered for by families that want him to marry all the women [[note]]--to be more precise, all sisters--[[/note]] in that family.

Then his young sister, out of 27 such siblings, drives off a group of attackers targeting a lone rider. His family has kept up the soldier skills that made them landed gentry. They retrieve the woman only to find themselves caught up in a plot that involves their family history, treason and the fate of the entire nation could all hinge on his brother's price.

%% * GenderFlip: The book many of the tropes here only show up because they are so counterintuitive to what is expected in society.

%%* MenAreStrongWomenArePretty: Inverted. The novel features a broad StereotypeFlip of most gender roles, set in an analogue of the nineteenth century. Therefore, the noted attributes of women are strength, confidence, intelligence, competence etc, with ugliness being a detriment but fairly minor, but although men are expected to be able to run a household and raise children ''their'' beauty is extremely important.

%%** Justified in all the other cases as men can't get inot any trades what so ever and none of the media is really aimed at them.
%%*MenCantKeepHouse: Subverted in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', the bad state of the rooms where Keifer Porter lived is considered proof of his lazyness. The protagonist, on the other hand [[spoiler: almost immediately makes plans for redecoration when he moves into the rooms. His wives approve.]] Not surprising, as this is a world where masculine men can keep house.
%%* MenDontCry: Right in the first chapter, Jerin's gently chids a little sister who's bawling over a cut knee with "Hush, hush, big girls don't cry." This is a world of relatively stoic women and much more tender men who do cry. Being so rare and thus protected men like Jerin are allowed to cry. Aside from the aforementioned little sisters no women shed tears in this book, not even his wife after he's kidnapped or when she thinks he's dead. She plans to sink to the ground and grieve [[VengefulWidow only after he has been avenged]].

%% TopWife: This would be the Eldest in a given family but as with many gender norms only to an extent, given the Sororal Polygyny. A husband, as a biological male, has little to no political power only being able to play 'favorites' to manipulate their wives. This had disastrous consequences in the backstory and Jerin makes sure to follow his father's advice and be scrupulous about sharing his time and attention evenly among his wives, never playing favorites in any way.

* TheAlcoholic: The Wakecliff family in had some very bad and rather suspicious times. A family of fifty-eight all died within one season. Eldest Wakecliff, the head of the family, took to [[DrowningMySorrows drinking heavily]] and later died of alcohol poisoning after going on a binge when she heard about six of her kin dying in a carriage accident.
* AllGirlsLikePonies: Part of the books broad [[StereotypeFlip inversion]] of most gender roles. The two most prominent young men in the book, Jerin and Cullen, both adore horses, Cullen moreso than Jerin. Cullen's sisters don't let him near them because he had some "great-great-grandfart that got kicked in the head and died". His cousin sometimes takes him to the stables to pet them over a low wall, but won't let him get closer. He's deeply envious of Jerin, whose family raises horses and lets him ride the older, gentler mares.
* AllMenArePerverts: Jerin Whistler in can resist no pretty woman. Every attempt of seducing him is at least halfway successful. As his eldest sister points out, though, this is not entirely his fault -- he was raised to never say no to any woman, as the polygynous culture he lives in would fall apart if one of the rare men insisted on being monogamous or even celibate.
* AllWomenAreLustful: When he's out in public, Jerin is eyed ceaselessly with jealousy or speculation, even with his heavily armed sisters there to protect him. When he puts his veil up for a bit, he's chastised for tempting people; later he's dissuaded from going out alone because he is not safe. In the span of the novel, he is kissed several times without his verbal consent by women, and such behavior seems to be expected of them, much like how some people in our day and age say control of their sexual urges cannot be expected of men faced with an attractive woman.
%% incorperate: AllWomenAreLustful takes place in a world with few men, since they strongly tend to miscarry or be stillborn. As a result men are kept carefully sheltered and secluded, because otherwise women abduct them in "[[AbductionIsLove husband raids]]". One such man, the very beautiful and almost-of-marrying-age Jerin, is noted to have had erotic dreams, and after some QuestionableConsent is happy to be seduced by a visiting princess. Later in the book he goes out in public, surrounded by protective sisters, and a note is made that women stare at him with either envy--if only I had a man like that!--or open speculation, wondering if they could get away with stealing him. He actively fears being abducted and raped. Virginity is highly valued in unmarried men, since this world averts STDImmunity. It's an interesting use of this trope, because on the one hand part of this "lust" is greed; there's economic value in men and particularly virgins. On the other hand, lust is certainly part of it. Jerin was taught the "art" of pleasing a woman with his hands and mouth, the better to keep several wives happy; another male character employed the LysistrataGambit to great effect.
%% AllWomenArePrudes * Averted in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': Women talk openly about sex, and many women are seen chasing after men they desire. Both sexes are expected to remain chaste until marriage, because of STD risk, but it's clear that most people like sex very much. (And others are just not interested in it.)
* AloofBigBrother: {{Gender Flip}}ed this is ocnsidered a cultural trait downright encouraged in any given [[PropheticName Eldest]].

* AltarDiplomacy: [[spoiler:The Porter's try this in two stages. Legally, they're sisters-in-law to the princesses, whose late husband was brother to the villains and married the princesses to gain that connection for his family. Under their country's inheritance laws, if all the princesses were to die, without any having had a child to inherit the crown, the villains have a claim to the thrones as heirs to their sisters-in-law. When the princesses find a new husband, the villains decide to kidnap and forcibly marry him, since his royal blood would strengthen his wives' claim to the thrones.]]

* AmbiguouslyBi: Many women in are well able to appreciate the beauty in their own sex. Cira is the only one who is explicitly bi, but as her homosexual relationship is treated as nothing unusual, it can be assumed that bisexual women wouldn't exactly feel the need to "out" themselves.

* AnxietyDreams: Princess Rennsaeler has been having {{Past Experience Nightmare}}s about the theater explosion that killed her husband and older sisters. When she falls in love with Jerin, she starts dreaming that he's there too.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Keifer was this for the princesses, charmed the older ones with his beauty, but was a nagging, temper-tantrum-throwing man which the younger less smitten princesses could fully see. He made all of his wives unhappy to varying degrees, frankly, with the [[spoiler:theater explosion]] the survivors all became (relatively) happy widows.

* BabiesEverAfter: A triple whammy, [[spoiler:Mother Eldest Whistler, Eldest Whistler and Princess Halley]] have either given birth or are expecting by at the end of the book.
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: {{Justified}} men are rare and adoption is a cultural and religious taboo, so the biggest problem most women, and therefore familes, face is childlessness. While death in childbirth is mentioned, it is clear that unwanted pregnancies are unheard of (women who just want to have sex have no taboo against choosing other women), and many of the problems that new parents face in the western world are just not present.

* BattleHarem: Mess with Jerin and you will have five furious warrior princesses at your throat [[note]]The only reason the other five aren't involved is that they're too young, generally around eight years old--once they're old enough, count them in as protectors for their husband as well[[/note]], not to mention fifty or sixty mothers, sisters, aunts and cousins ''all'' trained as fighters and thieves.

** Corelle comes acroos this in the first chapter.

* BleedEmAndWeep: Jerin is horrified when Cira clocks someone with a stone paperweight. Not long after, he [[spoiler:shoots a Porter woman to save Cira]] and holds absolutely still for several minutes, overcome with reaction. Of course, five or ten minutes later he is using the woman he killed as a dead weight to keep the whistle going to bleed steam out of the boilers. Jerin's a Whistler, necessity trumps emotion every time.

* BumblingDad: ((Averted}} the fact that the Whistlers are such a well-organized family is attributed to Jerin's grandfather Alannon, as the grandmothers were just a ragtag bunch of successful soldier-spies. Jerin's father seems to have done a good job, too, and Jerin is a very competent [[PromotedToParent replacement dad]] for his younger siblings. His love interest points out that he's good at parenting in an attempt to convince her relatives that he'd be a good match.
* BuryMeNotOnTheLonePrairie: While searching for the missing cannons the combined whistler-Queen's Justice group finds Egan Wainwright, a man who ''was'' buried on the lone prairie, together with his kidnappers, who were apparently killed by their employers. The man's corpse is dug up and sent to be buried with his family, the bandits are just left where they are.
* 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 is never described but appears 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, since she's one of his wives.]]

* CareerVersusMan: {{Subverted}} Jerin meets his former schoolteacher Miss Skinner, who quit her job to get married. However, she was working as a teacher in the first place to make money so that her sisters and she could ''afford'' a husband. Now that they have enough money, they'll marry, and she returns to her home to get her share of the husband's... company. Not so much "career versus man" as "career in order to get a man".

* ChildHater: Discussed, it's seen as a marriage sinking trait as Men who don't like children are essentially useless as a House Husband as they are expected to take on many of the nurturing aspects of childcare. Some of the Whistlers dislike Balin Brindle for wincing and doing nothing every time his little sisters/possible incestuous children start to cry in public. The fact that Keifer never could stand being around the little princesses or even fake any degree of liking for them is yet another mark in a very long list against him. It doesn't seem to matter to most how women feel about children, as demonstrated by Captain Raven Tern, whose discomfort around children is PlayedForLaughs and generally accepted, since her sisters will presumably handle carrying on their family line.

* ChildrenAreAWaste: {{PlayedWith}} Only one male baby is successfully born for every nine girls; they tend to spontaneously miscarry, abort, or die as small children. Boys, therefore, are [[GenderRarityValue economically valuable]]. A family -- several sisters married to one man -- usually tries to have one male child to swap for a boy who will marry their daughters, and others to sell for "[[TitleDrop brother's price]]". With those ratios it's rare for a family to have multiple sons, but some like the Brindles [[MassiveNumberedSiblings keep trying]], often becoming rather careless with their newborn daughters. Society views this as tremendously indulgent, and a family constantly producing children is seen as wasting its time and energy.

* ChosenConceptionPartner: has male prostitutes whose sole job is to father children in a "crib", which comes in private, open to everybody and has a reputation for being plague houses, and military, based around the Order of the Sword, versions. So being this is no great compliment to a man, only comparatively rich women or those with a brother to swap can afford to fulfill a DarwinistDesire and purchase a single husband for their family.
* CivilWar: The War of the False Eldest, which took place several generations ago is important for many reasons:

* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: Arriving in Mayfair, Jerin sees a scarred woman with WhatBeautifulEyes who kisses him before vanishing into the crowd. Later he is kidnapped, and the scarred woman is among the kidnappers, assuring him that she'll help, introducing herself as Cira. When he gets free and escapes on horseback, Cira catches up and pulls him onto ''her'' horse, much to his dismay. But Cira does help, telling him he'll get back to his wives with his honor intact. [[spoiler:He does, since his rescuer turns out to ''be'' Princess Halley who he hadn't met yet.]]
* ComfortFood: When they find out he's leaving to get married Jerin's toddler sisters are inconsolable, he comforts them by suggesting they bake a pound cake and make maple ice cream.
* ComfortingTheWidow: Jerin feels bad about his relief when he is told that Ren, who he loves is a widow -- he doesn't want to be the one doing this trope, rather he thinks he should feel sorry for her loss. [[spoiler: He ends up comforting all the widows... though they need comfort not because they're sad their husband died - they aren't - but because their husband caused a lot of harm to the family.]]

** It does lead to a moment when one of child princesses mentions he did a magic trick, and an older sister is momentarily worried about which specific "magic" he demonstrated...

* ConspicuousConsumption: Combined with TrendAesop as the nobility tends towards this, with expensive outfits that are only intended to be worn once with some buying whole wardrobes for just one season. Then there's talk of eating off of place of gold and having fresh fruit even in winter.

** As seen from the royal family dinner they attend a few hours later they're good at their job, though they had [[TheBeautifulElite good canvas to paint on]].
* CorneredRattlesnake: Captain Tern is genre-savvy enough to avert this. When she stands in front of the Whistler farm, and the question is presented to her why she doesn't just force them to let her in, she points out that the adults are away on business, and the house is full of toddlers and girls in their early teens, who are armed up to the teeth.

* CouldntFindAPen: Jerin was burning a letter when people came through a secret passage and abducted him. He struggled for long enough to be able to write one three-letter word in soot before they hauled him away, [[spoiler:the one he thought responsible, Rij]]. Since literacy isn't a universal skill his abductors miss it and don't take time to wipe it off before fleeing the bodyguards that were trying to break through his locked door.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The common English cover tries to sell the novel as a RomanceNovel, with a relativly short-haired man carrying an [[DamselInDistress unconscious woman]] to safety. Jerin does pick up Odelia once, with his sister there to guard him, and it ''is'' in many ways a romance novel, but this cover is very misleading as to the [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy roles]] of those two characters. It also shows him as very visibly armed, which the long-haired Jerin [[NonActionGuy never visibly is]].
* CrapsackWorld: The main characters are shielded from the worst of it, but oh boy...First, if you're a man, you're property, ostensibly a highly valuable and safeguarded member of society but in practice having no more social or legal rights than a particularly expensive piece of furniture. The best you can ever hope for is that you'll get sold to wives who will treat you well, and if you're unlucky you might get sold to a crib where you'll spend the rest of your life drugged to incoherence and studded out on a daily basis, probably catching a disease somewhere along the way. And if you're a woman who didn't have the fortune of being born into the nobility, things can still be very far from awesome, given the ubiquitousness of poverty and high levels of social stratification, entire families being held accountable for the actions of a single member, and if you're orphaned, Gods help you, because no one else will, seeing as how adoption is outlawed by their religion[[note]]Explained by one character that "it only encourages the idiots to overproduce in vain hopes of a boy;" one unsavory family is speculated that "they would be littering the countryside with dead girl babies" in repeated failed attempts to conceive boys if they thought they could get away with it, and is even rumored to be practicing incest with their teenage son before he's married off to make up for the fact that their husband is getting too old and infirm to properly conceive children[[/note]]. The same religion holds that the ruling dynasty is descended from the gods, by the way. The place appears to be an absolute monarchy (the princesses all seem decent enough, but still...), has a thriving thieves' guild, and is so badly run that an anonymous organization of masked women known only as "The Hats" can drum up enough support among the River Trash for overthrowing the government to be considered a viable option. Those same River Trash are the direct result of both the "no adoption" and "entire families condemned for a single member's actions" policies above: Women and girls who, for some reason or another, have been exiled from their families or blacklisted from legitimate work and must eke out a living as outlaws on the fringes of civilization, a fate that the protagonist's grandmothers only narrowly escaped by joining the aforementioned thieves' guild after one of their mothers got them disgraced and cashiered from the army for committing treason.

* CreepyPhysical: Jerin has to have his sperm tested before he can get married, which doesn't involve inappropriate touching but the doctor voices her surprise at Jerin's high sperm count much to his embarrassment. Later, his bride-to-be checks his naked body for inbred deformities, also a necessary procedure ... and of course, she does so with his eldest sister present, which makes it safer, but even more embarrassing.
* CultureJustifiesAnything: While the idea of doing things differently is {{Discussed}} when Ren and Jerin walk in the Royal Gardens they come to the conclusion that it is impossible to change such fundamental things about their culture. Likely used to lampshade the DeliberateValuesDissonance. However, it's averted by Whistlers and the royal princesses characters, who think that just because men are rare doesn't justify using them for breeding like cattle.
* CulturedBadass: Royal princesses have to be this, it comes with the job, they have a working understanding of microbiology and Germ Theory for example. [[spoiler: The elder princesses died in an explosion of the opera house. The survivors of that explosion still remember what the opera was about and how moving the aria sung at the time before they left was.]]

* DancesAndBalls: Mayfairs' summer season is stuffed with these. We only see the opening ball given by the Queens but presumably, the activity goes on in the background as the rest of the plot proceeds

* DarwinistDesire: Queensland nole society as such caters to Darwinist desires, though the protagonists don't seem to care. Probably due to inbreeding and genetic mutation being a common problem, (the fact that very few males are born hints to this) a prospective husband is checked for deformities and sperm count before the wedding takes place.

** One of the aspects of the settings sororal polygyny means that your sister falling in love with the man you want to marry is actually a ''good'' thing in the setting. If you can afford the Brother's price that is.

* DisguisedInDrag: Jerin is disguised as a female prostitute. However, as men are rare in the setting, female prostitutes try to look like men, to appeal to their female customers, most of whom would probably consider themselves heterosexual. This means that he is a man, who disguises himself as a woman, who disguises himself as a man. Due to the gender roles in that setting, the appearance he is ultimately described as having is somewhat DragQueen like.

* DismissedGender: A lot of the things men of this world are subjected to have been and still ''are'' applied to women in our world, and they're horrifying to think about. But there are various hints, some of them big, that these things haven't been {{Gender Flip}}ped merely to make them more acceptable to the readers.

%%* DismissedGender: Set in the rough equivalent of the 1800s with gender values and stereotypes largely the opposite of western standards around that time. The story has aspects such as men literally being the property of their female relatives until they're fifteen, then their wives once they're married; men who are raped often being made into {{Sex Slave}}s thanks to being DefiledForever; men being subject to FemaleGaze and [[EatingTheEyeCandy being pawed at]] and even [[AMatchMadeInStockholm abducted]] and raped for going out without protection; much of the value of men being tied up in virginity until marriage and [[MandatoryFatherhood fathering and nurturing children]] after that; the rape of men by women being seen as [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil horrible]] but the rape of women by men not even ''called'' rape; and social conditioning making it difficult for men to say no to a woman. It should be noted, though, that the two viewpoint characters are products of their culture, feeling uncomfortable about some of these aspects but not seeing alternatives, and in the writing, it is clear that they are not issues just {{Gender Flip}}ped to make them acceptable to the audience.

* DivorceRequiresDeath: Some commit suicide to get out of an unhappy marriage. There is an interesting example with [[spoiler: Keifer Porter]] who dies in an accident. [[spoiler: Which was actually an attempt on the lives of his wives, in which he was involved. His death actually was an accident, unless one counts it as HoistByHisOwnPetard.]] Divorce is technically possible, but requires the consent of the women involved. There is a tragic opera, ''Barren Winter'', wherein one aria is the lament of an infertile man who begs to be allowed a divorce so his wives can have children, given it brings a CivilWar you feel for the guy.

* DontSplitUsUp: PlayedWith, Jerin hopes he will be swapped for the brother of another family, (and not for the eponymous brother's price in money) so that he can often visit his siblings. His toddler sisters cry when they hear he is going to leave and get married. Princess Ren has a different kind of problem: Splitting the family into two groups of sisters (as has been done in the past) is not an option, as it caused a succession war back then. So, if she wants to marry, she has to get all her sisters to agree on the same husband. Even Trini, who is reluctant to marry again after the abusive late husband, and Halley, who has been missing for months.

* DotingParent: What Jerin's mothers are, he's sure they would marry him to nice girls. However, as his marriage will influence whom his sisters can marry, they leave that choice to their daughters, on whom they dote almost as much.

* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Averted but not completely inverted. One of the first thoughts Jerin has in the book is that if he killed the sister who's always needling him people would shrug it off, though we quickly see that not only would he never actually hurt her, he's constantly aware that her anger, directed towards him, is much more dangerous than his anger at her. However, [[spoiler:Keifer's]] assault on his young wife is taken very seriously by her middle sisters (if not the elder ones) and could have been grounds for divorce.
* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: This is Inverted. [[spoiler:Keifer, who was married to the princesses,]] fought often with his then-13-year-old wife, and at one point stunned her with a blow to the head, tied her to his bed, and abused her. This abuse includes rape, but her sisters describe it as "servicing" her, and the sexual aspect is seen as less awful than his breaking her nose and some of her fingers, blacking her eyes, burning her with a hot iron, and threatening to cut her face. On the other hand, when Eldest Whistler thinks that one of the princesses has raped her brother, she is murderously angry even though he has not been physically harmed.

* ElderAbuse: Eldest Picker is an old woman still beats her younger (but equally old) sisters if they don't obey, and complains she can't hit them as hard as before, because they break so easily now. It's played for laughs, and not quite clear how bad she really is; she seems like a CoolOldLady. (It is normal that the eldest sister is in charge, but this is usually not enforced with violence). In a darker example, there is also [[spoiler:the Porters, who ''murder'' their mothers when they become senile and scatterbrained.]]

* ExoticExtendedMarriage[=/=]{{Polyamory}}: From most readers perspectives. The people of Queensland practice polygyny - sororal polygamy - with all the sisters of a family sharing a single husband. This can mean as many as thirty wives, a number that Jerin finds downright intimidating. Families with extra brothers to trade (or enough money to buy another husband outright) can "split" into multiple-family units, so that the sister-wife groups can be smaller and narrower in age. Jerin's family has a comparatively high male birthrate, so they have been able to do this in the past.

* FamilyBusiness: Whole families can be focused on a profession, examples include service, painters, tailors, farmers and of course governance for the royalty. Individual members can go off and do things of course.

* FamilyHonor: {{Enforced}} All family members are punished by the ''law '' if one steps out of line. One can get out of this by claiming that the family is estranged and was not working together, but it is automatically assumed that they ''did'' work together. After Heria and Jerin Whistler save the life of a princess, Queen Elder compliments Eldest Whistler (who wasn't even there at the time) for acting in accordance with the law, even though this endangered Jerin, a valuable boy. However, they also value their honor in the more abstract sense; Jerin's sister Corelle, when she notices that he's being courted by a noblewoman who thinks the Whistler family is beneath her, remarks that they will not be looked down on by their future sisters in law, and rescues Jerin from the unpleasant company.

* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: The Gossip around the Whistler home is that the younger Brindle sisters were actually not fathered by their alleged father, but by Balin Brindle, the son of the family. There's a twelve-year gap in births, and the father is described as very frail and feeble. [[spoiler:And then there is Kij Porter's daughter Eldie, whose father, too, is someone other than is officially claimed.]]

* FashionMagazine: The Men's fashion magazine for the coming season shows up in the first chapter with Corelle[[note]]who borrowed it from the Brindles[[/note]] showing Jerin what he should wear when they show him around the neighborhood. The men in them wear much tighter, more revealing clothes than Jerin is willing to consider, and he thinks they are not proper, but it's different for the nobility. [[spoiler:He ends up wearing one.]]

* FeudingFamilies: A historical one rose to the level of an especially pointless CivilWar called The War of the False Eldest, since both sides were originally part of the same family it makes things all the more awkward. The losing pbranch family was executed down to the last woman. [[spoiler:But not the last man: Prince Alannon was kidnapped by Whistlers during the war, became their husband, and raised up a family.]]
* FictionalCurrency: The Queensland Crown or "crowns", which are implied to be made of gold, then there are "Gil" for silver and quince for what are probbly bronze.

* FourthDateMarriage: What everyone hopes for in when negotiating a marriage. This can go wrong in any number of ways such as if you're one of the younger sisters like Halley ones and can't shake your smitten Eldest sister from her choice after [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter she missed some obvious character flaws]] in her choice of a husband. That's how you end up in an abusive relationship.

* {{Futureshadowing}}: It's pretty clear early on that Princess Odelia is looking for a husband, as she and her sisters aren't married. Yet we also learn that Princess Ren has some sexual experience. (Something unusual for an unmarried woman ''or'' man here) The fact that they were married, and their husband was a jerk whose death was a relief, is only revealed, and shown in a nightmare-scene later. Likewise, it is known pretty early that he did something horrible to Princess Trini, and she's shy and misanthropic as a result. However, the reader (and the younger princesses) are only told later [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil what]], [[ColdBloodedTorture exactly]].

* {{Gendercide}}: People aren't so much sterile as mostly unable to produce male offspring. This results in a world where there is about one boy born for every ten girls. It is never mentioned what lead to this, but it could be a post-apocalyptic setting, with environmental pollution being the cause of frequent stillbirth of male babies. Society adapted to this, and the setting is quite cozy by post-apocalyptic standards. There is, however, literal gendercide mentioned in an offhand comment about a family who has thirty daughters (born by ten mothers or so, but only one husband), and only one son, with someone saying that they would probably "litter the land with the dead bodies of female babies if they thought they could get away with it", as it is suspected they keep having babies in the hope for a second son.
* 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. Women who were fathered in the [[SexSlave cribs]] may never have seen a man at all. The trope is everpresent in many of the forms that the local culture has taken.
* GirlsWithGuns: When it's not being a RomanceNovel, is this thanks to a combination of WorldOfActionGirls and the invention of firearms. Mainly Revolvers but rifles also show up as do cannons.

* GlorifiedSpermDonor: This is more common than not given how rare men are in the setting; Women of the lower (therefore most populist) classes usually go to so-called "cribs" to get pregnant, and the sperm donor is documented to avoid inbreeding. Only from middle-class up do people have an actual ''father''. The Whistler family has a shared grandfather and shared father, and may not be otherwise related at all - Jerin suspects that his grandmothers just [[TrueCompanions pretended to be sisters]], in [[ItMakesSenseInContext order to be able to rise to middle-class.]]

* GoingCommando: An early scene in where Jerin is sans pants or undergarments and just in [[FullyClothedNudity a nightshirt]] heading to the kitchen for a snack, which is how he's dressed when he [[NakedFirstImpression meets the similarly clad Princess Ren]], who is bedding down there for the night. Later in the book he's scandalized to find that he is expected to wear tight clothing including a codpiece, which he can't wear anything beneath.
* GoldDigger: A Brother's Price can be arranged for the purpose of gold-digging by the relatives, and very often are.

* GoodParents: The Whistler mothers, and recently deceased father are/were good parents. They are absent for most of the plot, but the way in which the elder siblings take over their role clearly shows that they had a good role model.
* GoodPaysBetter: Jerin's grandmothers were common thieves, until one of them was caught by some military officers' and argued that thieves would make excellent spies for the government. She succeeded, and after the war, the surviving sisters were knighted. Jerin's family is quite well off when the novel takes place, and while they do have the skills to be excellent thieves, they are firmly on the side of good and government.

* HasTwoMommies: Or six or twelve, any child of a family unit treats the previous generation as their mother, some might be more involved with rearing their children others might not. However in families that have one men get the brunt of childcare duties, but as they are rather fragile, if a husband dies without leaving an old enough son it's left to the mothers to raise the children.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: The protagonists find the corpse of a man who likely died from blood loss after his tongue was cut off. They conclude that the women who killed his family and kidnapped him wanted to keep him around, but didn't want him to be able to talk, and were too incompetent to silence him without killing him. Later on, [[spoiler: one of Jerin's kidnappers advises her sisters to not talk too much in front of Jerin, as she would like her future husband to have a tongue.]]

* HeroesWantRedHeads: The "flame haired" Princesses seem to affect our protagonist like an aphrodisiac--every one of them. [[spoiler:Even when that hair is hidden under dye.]]

* HigherEducationIsForWomen: All education is for women. Jerin's ability to read and write is highly unusual ... not to mention his ability to read thieves' cant. He meets Cullen, whose cousin tries to teach him how to read and write, but Cullen isn't a good pupil as he considers it a waste of time.

* HomeschooledKids: Jerin and his brothers are homeschooled. This is unusual, most boys in the setting are implied to get no education at all, their sisters actually went to a schoolhouse. The princesses, of course, had private tutors on retainer.

* HookedUpAfterwards: As expected from the Jane-Austen-Style plot elements, there is one match in the making at the end of the novel, [[spoiler: Jerin's cousin Dail would like to marry the Moorland sisters, and Cullen Whistler, née Moorland approves of the idea]] Also, depending on how you define it, Jerin doesn't "hook up" with all of his wives in the wedding night, as some of them are not yet of age.

* HormoneAddledTeenager: Replete with these, there's Corelle, who goes to chase the neighbour boy's pants, even though she should stay home and guard the farm, Lylia, who is looking forward to her wedding night so much that her sisters think she'll happily marry any relatively handsome young man, and Cullen, who is ''very'' interested in the dirty pictures his cousin Lylia provides. Jerin wants to stay chaste and pure until he marries, but his hormones make this very difficult.

* HotGuyUglyWife: The breathtakingly handsome Jerin is worried about this trope when it comes to the Brindle sisters, all of whom he thinks "look like horses". Instead, [[spoiler: he marries a women has scars all over her face and upper body, a sight which disgusted her ex-lover so much that she left her. As sororal polygyny is the norm, not ''all'' of his wives are ugly, but this one is.]]

* HouseHusband: Any man not too young to marry or be in the cribs strives for this role this is the only way to be respectable since there's no hint of them holding a trade of any kind.
* HubCity: Mayfair, Capital of Queensland is this, the rich from all over the country come to the place for balls and it's a major legal and trade destination for the country too. It took its place from the previous castle due to the [[CivilWar War of the False Eldest]].

** To consider the Captain's responsibilities she's a direct assistant to the princesses and is trusted to escort the Whistlers to Mayfair for Jerin's season. Also acts as the field commander for retrieving the cannons.

* ImAManICantHelpIt: PlayedWith, while the teen-aged Jerin always acts the perfect gentleman, he is unable to say no when a woman tries to seduce him, which is a problem because he could be considered to be DefiledForever. Eldest Whistler invokes this trope, by pointing out that they never taught him how to resist a woman's advances, and Culturally boys are expected to be open and outgoing, so it's not his fault.
* IMissMom: Gender-flipped, both Jerin and Ren had warm, loving '''fathers''' who they miss terribly. Justified given the differing roles Mena re expected to take.

* ImpoverishedPatrician: The Whistlers are perfectly secure in their lands and pay their taxes but compared to the power players of Queensland they're country bumpkins and have barely any money to spend. The idea of purchasing a trading post would be a major investment for them but could well break their bank, a season in Mayfair for Jerin is a huge opportunity for them.

* InformedAttractiveness: Inasmuch as this is possible in a non-illustrated 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[[note]]Granted, these flaws would have been concealed rather effectively by clothing[[/note]]. Somewhat justified, though; this ''is'' a world where men are so rare and so rarely seen that anyone with all his teeth and both eyes are considered attractive.
* InnocentInaccurate: Little Bunny Whistler attempts this, but when she voices her belief that Daddy has "gone away," [[PromotedToParent Jerin]] gently tells her that no, sweetie, Daddy died.

* InsatiableNewlyweds:{{Justified}}, sex before marriage is frowned upon. When Jerin's sisters get married, they tell their parents-in-law that their husband [[spoiler:Cullen]] looks so well because he's getting so much "exercise", "riding" ... while one of the wives has her hands all over his body. He's a very happy young man, and presumably not only because he's fond of horses.

** Cira [[spoiler:because she thinks her scars mare her beauty.]]
* InterestingSituationDuel: There's the climatic fight on board a steamship that is slowly approaching a waterfall, Hera's step, with the steering wheel destroyed, so that, whoever wins, has a chance to die anyway in the fall.
* IntimatePsychotherapy: Subverted, Kij Porter, a noblewoman, is said to have gone to a "crib" (a brothel), in order to cope with the death of several of her relatives. Due to high prevalence of STD, a noblewoman wouldn't usually have sex out of wedlock, so her grief is universally considered the reason why she did something so utterly foolish. It is not mentioned whether it actually ''helped''. [[spoiler:It's later learned that she most likely did not actually use a crib, but claimed she had to cover [[BrotherSisterIncest her daughter's true paternity]].]]

* ISurrenderSuckers: Jerin captured by women who want to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe forcibly marry him]] in order to take the throne of Queensland. They aren't going to kill him if they can at all help it, but they could definitely do some unpleasant things to him, and they ''will'' kill his friend. So... he thinks quickly and claims total surrender, that he will be a good lover and husband, if they just don't kill his friend. Said friend is very surprised to find he was lying to get their guard down.

* IWasQuiteALooker: Jerin is told that he's quite a looker. (Which surprises him, as he doesn't often talk to women who aren't family). Later, the reader learns that Jerin looks very much like his grandfather. He remembers the kindly old man fondly, and sometimes wonders how his grandfather managed to wrap the [[ExoticExtendedMarriage grandmothers]] around his little fingers, being such a soft-spoken, gentleman. He [[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful finds out.]]

* JerkAss: Corelle. She gets better later, but her personality remains on the rougher side. Also, Keifer Porter, lacks any positive qualities or sensible relatives who would prevent him from becoming cruel and spoiled rotten.

* LadyLand: What Queensland appears to be, since men are so carefully protected. There's a big procession in the captial at the end of the book, in which it's noted that there are even some men at the upper stories of buildings watching.

* LatePregnancyRealization: Mother Eldest Whistler first thinks her weight gain is early menopause when she doesn't get her period anymore. She is delighted to find out it is in fact SomeoneToRememberHimBy given her husband had slipped on some ice, not a few months prior.

* LetsWaitAWhile: Despite the undeniable attraction Jerin feels for Ren, he doesn't want to "go all the way" until they're engaged. Well, he ''does'', but he knows they ''shouldn't'', and he feels ashamed for going as far as he did.

* LongHairedPrettyBoy: For any attractive man, it is the expected style, the prettiness is negotiable.

* LoveConfessor: [[spoiler: Ren]] confesses her love for Jerin, and intention to marry him, not to him, but to her closest female friend, Raven. Given the family's missteps with Keifer the Queen Mother decreed that it must be a unanimous decision of all the older sisters to merry him and given the trauma's inflicted Ren doesn't think she can.

* LovePotion: There's a kind of drug that is commonly used on male prostitutes. What exactly it does is left unclear, though the implied "last longer" effect can not be the only one; most likely it's a kind of powerful aphrodisiac, as a woman having one in her possession is viewed as intending to rape a man.

* LuredIntoATrap: Repeatedly, thankfully the Whistler's are there.

** Later in Mayfair, Princess Ren leads a great number of soldiers of the Queens' Justice to a mill where intel points a Ciminal Conspiracy are hiding some of the cannons. Aware that it could be a trap, Eldest and Corelle Whistler go out ahead of them. The enemy actually ''uses'' the cannons, and with the soldiers filling the street...

** [[spoiler:All these traps were laid by the Porters who are sister's-in-law of the princesses and know how they think.]]
* LustObject: Jerin Whistler to lots of women. Justified he is a very beautiful man where a good standard is a man who has all his own teeth and no deformations. The non-related women who don't lust after him warn him to not go out unveiled in public, as other women might not be so decent.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Here "whores" are women who dress like men, and satisfy other women sexually, as about one boy is born for every ten girls. Protagonist Jerin is very careful about staying husband material, and when someone tells him that oral sex (something he was advised to do with his wives as part of TheTalk) is something that whores do, he is very embarrassed about having something in common with whores. (Male prostitutes exist, too, but are mainly for making babies, so they don't do oral). He is also worried about [[spoiler: being a TechnicalVirgin]], as a man who is not pure, and could have STD, won't find wives, may be sold to the "cribs"--brothels where women go to get pregnant.

* AMatchMadeInStockholm: Decades ago, Jerin's grandfather [[spoiler:Prince Allanon]] was abducted the Whistlers, a band of soldier-spy TrueCompanions calling themselves sisters, much to his dismay. Since this was part of a CivilWar and not long after that the entire side of the prince's family was executed for treason, he decided there wasn't much point in going back. Later such 'husband raids' became illegal.

* MistakenForPedophile: PlayedWith Odelia takes Jerin to play with her younger sisters, the youngest of whom are toddlers, while the eldest is primary school age. She leaves him alone with them, and no one even thinks that this could be, in any way, inappropriate. However, when Lylia later tells Ren that "Jerin can do magic", she is a bit worried for a moment. [[spoiler: As she seduced Jerin earlier, and can think of only one magic-like thing he can do ... she hopes he didn't do "that" in front of the children.]] Turns out Jerin can do completely innocent magic tricks of the "make a coin appear out of thin air" one, and such.

* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Ren, after [[spoiler: seducing]] the Whistler family's [[spoiler: son, Jerin, on the kitchen floor]], fears the Whistlers will lure her into a trap. [[spoiler: They don't, in fact, the family doesn't know about it, yet.]] Ren is not a villain but sometimes acts like a jerk, as the spoilered incident proves.

* MySecretPregnancy: Culturally enforced, people don't ever talk much about late-term pregnancies and try to hide early ones out of superstitious fear of something going wrong with it. After her brother and several other family members died in an explosion at a theater, a grieving Kij Porter visited a [[SexSlave crib]] and got with child, [[spoiler:but it turns out she made the story about the crib up; she had in fact been [[VillainousIncest impregnated by her brother]] and hid it until she had an excuse not to]]; because of her noble birth, it would have taken a lot to get her to go to a crib. The fear of sexually transmitted diseases, even after she'd proven clean, has sunk a few marriage alliances for her family.

* NecessarilyEvil: What the Cribs obviously represent, distribution of husbands isn't fair and neither are a lot of things in our world. So families and individuals that can't afford a brother's price use the Cribs to get pregnant. While conditions are said to vary any man in there is undoubtedly a SexSlave, used almost every night, having to take numerous drugs to ensure they're able to perform and exposed to numerous [=STDs=].
* NeutralFemale: {{Gender Inverted|Trope}} for the whole society. A good historical example is Jerin's grandfather Alannon, who was kidnapped by Jerin's grandmothers, out of a castle under siege. Apparently, he was just taking a bath when the spies found him, and decided to take him with them. It's encouraged by society, as men are seen as too valuable to harm and "Husband raids" were only outlawed in the last generation. Jerin averts this trope, as he has his own ideas about whom he wants to marry, and it just so happens that the women who kidnap ''him'' are less attractive than the set of sisters he is engaged to marry. (Alannon was apparently not engaged, and as his [[TheKindnapper kidnappers]] did everything to make him happy, and his family had been executed, anyway, he decided to just go with it.)

* NeverLearnedToRead: Literacy is not ubiquitous in Queensland, justified given its FantasyAmericana set around 1860ish, which didn't have universal literacy either. The entirely Whistler clan being literate is a bit odd when you include the males but their grandfather had high standards.

%%* Villain Fixing: Trini refuses to give her consent to the ArrangedMarriage her sisters are very keen on, until she hears that the Porters, who she has a low opinion of, have also made an offer for the man. That immediately causes her to change her opinion. As Jarin is a genuine sweetheart, this ends up fixing things for her, too. [[spoiler:The Porters prior villainous actions actually put Trini and her family in a much better position to foil the Porter's.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Keifer, while actually stupid, used to act childish and ostensibly hysterical to manipulate his wives and achieve his own ends.

* PlentyOfBlondes: In what may be an example of heredity, families more often than not all share the same hair color. This leads to the royal family being all red-haired, and some noble family being all blondes. With family sizes of up to fifty people or so, that is lots of red-haired and blonde people for a FantasyAmericana setting. Though the royal family might have achieved the red hair by inbreeding: They don't marry cousins, but they also don't marry commoners, leading to a small pool of marriageable noblemen for the princesses to choose from.

* PrivateTutor: The schoolteacher of Jerin's sisters occasionally came to the family's house to act like this for Jerin and his younger brother, who would be in danger of kidnapping outside the house. The Princesses also had dedicated tutors as well and worked wit things like microscopes which are cutting edge science for them.
* PromotionToParent: When his father dies, Jerin steps into the child-nurturing and house-tending role, and does well at it, since he'd been helping and learning from his father all along. The down side is that when they hear he's leaving to be married, his youngest sisters react as if losing another father.

* RomanceNovel: Jerin mentions the adventure novels his sisters read, which always involved secret passages into the mens' quarters. The daring heroines used them to save their true loves from heartless mothers, cruel sisters, abusive wives, and vile kidnappers.

* RoyalInbreeding: {{Averted}} one of the princesses says she wouldn't mind marrying her cousin if she absolutely must marry someone, but her sister points out that he is too close in blood (while admitting he'd otherwise be a good choice). [[spoiler: The Whistlers and the royal family are third cousins but this doesn't typically count in most circles.]]

* {{Schoolmarm}}: Miss Skinner, a very typical schoolmarm, who taught Jerin's sisters, and occasionally came to the Whistler farm to give lessons to Jerin and his younger brothers. She's very prim and proper, telling Jerin to wear his veil when she meets him on a ship, and not to talk to strange women. (Jerin protest's that she's not a ''stranger'', she's his dear old teacher). She is also unmarried, but not due to any restrictions, it's just very [[GenderRarityValue hard to find a husband]]. When she meets Jerin, she tells him that she's going home to get married, having amassed enough wealth to be able to afford a husband - her motivation to become a teacher in the first place. To complete the stereotype, Jerin recalls having had a crush on her when he was younger.
* SecretArt: The so-called "Paths of Pleasure" is treated as this. Jerin is asked whether his grandfather passed it on to him. It is, essentially, the art of [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex keeping all wives happy]] in a polygynous marriage. Jerin is very embarrassed when asked about it, he doesn't think it should be discussed in public.

* SeductionProofMarriage: DoublySubverted with [[spoiler: Jerin]]. As is the custom of his people he marries a group of sisters, to whom he is faithful ever after the engagement, even though a mysterious woman tries to seduce him. [[spoiler: She turns out to be one of his wives.]]

* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Used in a rather serious situation, [[spoiler: Cira insists]] that Jerin is not her boyfriend, and she is not interested in him at all. This is important, because [[spoiler: the villains want to make a show of raping Jerin, with her ForcedToWatch. She takes the fun out of it]] by claiming she's lesbian. She's actually rather attracted to Jerin, [[spoiler: who, unbeknownst to him, is engaged to marry her.]]

* SilkHidingSteel: Prince Allanon is a rare male example. He was a beautiful, dignified, quietly regal man who had his wives twisting themselves into pretzels to please him. And he saw to it his sons and grandsons were raised to be the same as his grandson Jerin demonstrates.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: More like Multiple Sisters Seek Good Man. Either way, having a caring nature and being good with children are seen as highly desirable traits in a prospective husband. Summer Whistler remarks that the boy her sister Corelle has a crush on "has a temper with the babies", which she dislikes. Jerin's own skill in dealing with his younger sisters is a plus in the eyes of his suiters.
* SinkTheLifeBoats: Incorporates the killing-the-defenseless aspect of LeaveNoSurvivors, familes that have committed treason are executed for it, down to the youngest child. It happened years ago after the [[CivilWar War of the False Eldest]]. Recalling that those children would have been her mothers if the family hadn't split, Ren is affected by the thought, though her sister Halley is coolly pragmatic about it.

* SlutShaming: This still exists in a matriarchy, at least in some aspects; there is gossip about a man who was caught with his wives' servant after the engagement and before the wedding, and promptly returned to his family, as "damaged goods". Apparently, he is still able to show his face in public, but it ''is'' a stain on his reputation, especially as there is no cure for STD. On the other hand, this trope is averted in that ''theoretical'' knowledge about sex is considered to make a man more desirable. The same applies to clothes - the codpiece is very much in fashion.

* TheSociopath: Keifer Porter. Very vain, charming if he wanted to be, good at manipulating people, even though he was rather stupid otherwise, and ready to do horrible things with little or no provocation. He is also implied to have been easily bored. While he did [[spoiler: sleep with his sister]], he seems to have been unable to form emotional relationships, seeing as his wives adored him and did everything to keep him happy, which didn't stop him from torturing their little sister. [[spoiler: And killing her father, and taking part in a conspiracy to kill them.]]

* TheStoolPigeon: when Corelle is found out to have [[spoiler: had sex with Balin Brindle]], she points at Jerin and tells Eldest that [[spoiler: Jerin was seduced by Ren.]] It doesn't work the way she wants to, though.
* StraightForTheCommander: The Whistler's did this as a matter of course during the CivilWar given the confusion it'd throw all the subordinates into. Corelle learned her lessons well and shot the [[InTheHood red-hooded]] one that the criminals were deferring to. It works.

* TheissTitillationTheory: Jerin somehow manages to convince himself that his nightshirt, which just about reaches his knees and is very thin, is almost as decent as a walking robe. Later on, after [[TheMakeover getting made up]] for the Mayfair ball, he is very aware that the tight trousers with a codpiece he is expected to wear are a lot more titillating than naked legs. Even if it doesn't leave much to the imagination.

* TrendAesop: While Jerin is too sensible to follow any trends Corelle insists he needs to wear tight trousers with a codpiece, as that's the latest fashion. She gets her wish when Jerin is sponsored to go to the royal ball for a season, along with some of his sisters. All the fashionable clothes do is attract attention that Jerin would rather not have. The Tailor family who make his and his sisters' clothes for the ball tell them that there's a new fad every two weeks or so at court. The Whistlers think it is pretty silly, and immediately make plans to sell their new clothes before they return home, as what is fashionable at court is unwearable elsewhere, the textile used would be ruined by ''rain''.

* VirginInAWhiteDress: Dru Hightower, is a ''man'' who is commonly known to be DefiledForever appears in white at a ball, and another character points out that this is likely an attempt to distract from his extramarital indiscretion.
* VirginTension: When Jerin gets kidnapped, it's a big concern that - even if they can get him back - that he will be raped first, making him an unsuitable husband. He's not a virgin by this point, but it's thematically similar.

* YouMustBeCold: Eldest Whistler, upon finding a murdered man she vaguely knew, removes her greatcoat to cover his [[ShamefulStrip nakedness]], while dead and can't feel the cold, but it's shameful to leave the poor man like that.

* ChosenConceptionPartner: has male prostitutes whose sole job is to father children in a "crib", which comes in private, open to everybody and has a reputation for being plague houses, and military, based around the Order of the Sword, versions. So being this is no great compliment to a man, only comparatively rich women can afford to fulfill a DarwinistDesire and purchase a single husband for their family.

* Years ago there was a prince Alannon in the royal family, but there was also his tragic contemporary, an infertile prince consort called ... ''Michael''.

%%* MenDontCry: This trope is reversed in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice''. Jerin gently chides one of his little sisters, coming to him with a scraped and cut knee, with "Hush, hush, big girls don't cry." This is a world of relatively stoic women and much more tender men, due to males being [[GenderRarityValue so rare and thus protected]], so while he cries at several points, aside from his very young sisters no women shed tears in this book, not even his wife after he's kidnapped or when she thinks he's dead. She plans to sink to the ground and grieve [[VengefulWidow only after he has been avenged]].

* PerfectHealth: Increases a man's value.

* MenDontCry: Right in the first chapter, Jerin's gently chiding a little sister who's bawling over a cut knee with "Big girls don't cry." Men, on the other hand, do cry.

* ThouShaltNotKill: While his sisters and wives
kill when necessary, they never do it if Jerin is present. In one situation, [[spoiler:Cira]] gives one of their enemies TapOnTheHead, and reassures Jerin that no, she didn't kill her, and she is extremely sorry that he has to witness this. [[spoiler: Later Jerin shoots a woman himself, and is shocked for moments afterward. He did it in defense of his rescuer, Cira, and is extremely upset that he actually killed a human being.]] While reference to execution as punishment is made, proper court proceedings beforehand are seen as preferable to killing in self-defense whenever possible. And even then, the protagonists don't like the thought of small children being executed for their mothers' crimes (as is the normal course of action, to avoid [[YouKilledMyFather revenge being taken by the surviving offspring.]])

* TitleDrop: The titular Brother's price is essentially a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_price bride price]] mainly in the form of a one time payment.
* ToiletHumor: {{Lampshaded}} Jerin Whistler and Princess Lylia, in a tasteful and inoffensive way, about the building of indoor privies and the technology involved, as it is relatively new. It is mentioned that Lylia enjoys the "innocent rudeness of the conversation".

** Later Ren leads an attack on some dcidents only for it to turn out she's set her riverboat against an ironclad outfitted with the remaining cannons.

* MilitaryMaverick: General Wellsbury seems to have gained this reputation solely by conscripting The Whistlers, who'd been a family of soldiers blacklisted from service after a sister's treason, then joined the thieves' guild out of desperation. When caught stealing by Wellsbury, Tea Whistler had the chutzpah to tell her that they'd make excellent spies. They lied, they stole, they ignored orders, and they turned the tides in the [[CivilWar War of the False Eldest]] since their duties were expanded from spying to wreaking general mayhem behind enemy lines. Her memoirs are still easily found 80 years later.

* MistakenForCheating: Jerin manages to mistake ''himself'' for cheating - when he can't remember a certain period of time, he fears that he cheated on his [[ExoticExtendedMarriage fianceés]] in that time, as he was there with a woman, and can't recall what, exactly, happened, only that it was a compromising situation. [[spoiler: Turns out the mysterious strange woman is, in fact, one of his wives-to-be, and she cheerfully tells him that, if he thinks ''that'' was sex, she will have to give him TheTalk.]]

* MistakenForPedophile: PlayedWith Odelia takes Jerin to play with her younger sisters, the youngest of whom are toddlers, while the eldest is primary school age. She leaves him alone with them, and no one even thinks that this could be, in any way, inappropriate. However, when one of the toddlers later tells Ren that "Jerin can do magic", she is a bit worried for a moment. [[spoiler: As she seduced Jerin earlier, and can think of only one magic-like thing he can do ... she hopes he didn't do "that" in front of the children.]] Turns out Jerin can do completely innocent magic tricks of the "make a coin appear out of thin air" one, and such.

* ThouShaltNotKill: While his sisters kill when necessary, they never do it if Jerin is present. In one situation, Eldest gives one of their enemies TapOnTheHead, and reassures Jerin that no, she didn't kill her, and she is extremely sorry that he has to witness this. [[spoiler: Later Jerin shoots a woman himself, and is shocked for moments afterward. He did it in defense of his rescuer, Cira, and is extremely upset that he actually killed a human being.]] While reference to execution as punishment is made, proper court proceedings beforehand are seen as preferable to killing in self-defense whenever possible. And even then, the protagonists don't like the thought of small children being executed for their mothers' crimes (as is the normal course of action, to avoid [[YouKilledMyFather revenge being taken by the surviving offspring.]])

** Sic years before Keifer Porter gets away with torturing and raping one of his [[ExoticExtendedMarriage younger wives]] by convincing Eldest that she "provoked him". Due to LoveMakesYouStupid, he actually succeeds with this.

* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: The method for preventing a CycleOfRevenge triggered by [[YouKilledMyFather executing traitor parents while leaving their children alive]] is to... execute the children too. Ren finds this monstrous and distressing, but she does have to admit that no one will take in [[spoiler: little Eldie Porter]] and if ''she'' does, the child will surely resent Ren's little sisters and future children and probably try to take revenge on them. And a five-year-old will not fare well if turned out on the streets. Fortunately, the Whistlers are nearby and listening; their great-grandmothers were executed for treason but, because the family was so mixed and not cohesive, not all of their grandmothers were killed, and the family went on to serve the crowns without resentment.]]

* Guyliner: {{Averted}}, interesting given how much the book plays with gender roles. Even at court, Jerin is not put in makeup other than penciled chalk under his nails. When makeup does come up in the story, it's worn by women - specifically whores, women who sometimes dress as men to attract other women - they wear lip paint to draw attention to their mouths and suggest that they know how to use them. Jerin ends up [[RecursiveCrossdressing disguised as a whore]], and his companion has to apply the makeup herself.

* Handguns: As is typical for a WildWest setting. While the Whistlers favor rifles for serious engagements they still carry handguns around. Even Jerin has a derringer, though [[BleedEmAndWeep actually using it freaks him out]].

* Futureshadowing: It's pretty clear early on that Princess Odelia is looking for a husband, as she and her sisters aren't married. Yet we also learn that Princess Ren has some sexual experience. (Something unusual for an unmarried woman ''or'' man here) The fact that they were married, and their husband was a jerk whose death was a relief, is only revealed, and shown in a nightmare-scene later. Likewise, it is known pretty early that he did something horrible to Princess Trini, and she's shy and misanthropic as a result. However, the reader (and the younger princesses) are only told later [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil what]], [[ColdBloodedTorture exactly]].

* Gendercide: People aren't so much sterile as mostly unable to produce male offspring. This results in a world where there is about one boy born for every ten girls. It is never mentioned what lead to this, but it could be a post-apocalyptic setting, with environmental pollution being the cause of frequent stillbirth of male babies. Society adapted to this, and the setting is quite cozy by post-apocalyptic standards. There is, however, literal gendercide mentioned in an offhand comment about a family who has thirty daughters (born by ten mothers or so, but only one husband), and only one son, with someone saying that they would probably "litter the land with the dead bodies of female babies if they thought they could get away with it", as it is suspected they keep having babies in the hope for a second son.

* DoubleInLawMarriage: This is an ideal state of affairs for poorer families in Queensland to swap brothers since it saves themselves the price of a husband and means closer bonds between families; makes cousins more like sisters. [[Spoiler:When Cullen is married to the older Whistler sisters, he hopes to get their cousins married to ''his'' sisters.]]

* CouldntFindAPen: Jerin was burning a letter when people came through a secret passage and abducted him. He struggled for long enough to be able to write one three-letter word in soot before they hauled him away, the one he thought responsible, [[spoiler:Rij]]. Since literacy isn't a universal skill his abductors miss it and don't take time to wipe it off before fleeing the bodyguards that were trying to break through his locked door.

* AerithAndBob: Has this bad, on top of every eldest sister automatically being called '''Eldest''', real and "made up" names are freely mixed, take for example the names of some of the Whistler children: Jerin, Corelle, Pansy, Violet, Kai, Doric, Leia, Blush, Summer, Eva, Kira, Heria, Liam, Emma, Celain, Kettie, Birdie, and Bunny.
** And the royal family. The princesses have names like Rensellaer, and there is a prince Alannon somewhere in the royal family. But there was also the very tragic figure, an infertile prince consort called ... ''Michael''.

* AdoptionIsNotAnOption: Adoption is forbidden by the local religion on the grounds that if the women in a family can simply give away unwanted girl children, they'll just get pregnant over and over again in the hopes of producing a boy. This is shown to have negative results when a family that can't afford to buy a husband then has no children and no one to pass their property on to after they die. [[spoiler: Averted at the end when the Whistlers secretly adopt Eldie Porter, to prevent her being executed for the crimes of her motherithAndBob: 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. This effect may be due to the fact that the children were born to (and presumably named by) various mothers within the family.
** Here are the names of the princesses given in birth order: Rennsellaer, Halley, Odelia, Trini, Lylia, Zelie, Quin, Selina, Nora, and Mira.
* AerithAndBob: Has this bad, on top of every eldest sister automatically being called '''Eldest''' real and "made up" names are freely mixed, take for example the names of some of the Whistler children: Jerin, Corelle, Pansy, Violet, Kai, Doric, Leia, Blush, Summer, Eva, Kira, Heria, Liam, Emma, Celain, Kettie, Birdie, and Bunny.

* InTheHood: the criminals whom the Whistlers and the Princesses fight together use hoods. Doesn't help them (much), as the Whistlers just go after the person with the red hood, who they assume is the leader.