Capri

by James Money

The air of Capri has had an extraordinary effect on many remarkable people down the centuries - as if the island had come to the collective decision that it was made for pleasure, a commodity that foreign visitors have always found there in spades.

It was on Capri that the Emperor Tiberius built a palace where he 'gave vent to all the vices' that he hadn't been able to indulge in Rome. In the nervous days following the trial of Oscar Wilde, English homosexuals found Capri a perfect haven. And in 1919 one Capri resident even remarked on the necessity of swathing her two dogs in chastity belts...

James Money's Capri, first published in 1986, is the first full social history of the island: a rambunctious tale that boasts a vivid cast of characters, usually found in various states of congress.

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capri was, from the 19th century through to the mid twentieth, a home and refuge for a varied collection of writers, artists, socialites and those who like, or like to live off, the wealthy no matter were their money came from. Because of its history as the Roman emperor Tiberius's pleasure-dome many of those artists, writers and society people, and their hangers on, went to Capri because of its reputation for cheap and plentiful servants, which meant there were loads of desperately poor people willing to labour in their homes, kitchens and gardens for very cheap wages. It was even cheaper to get, that is buy, boys and occasionally girls but Capri was predominantly known as a haunt for those who loved boys.

I am not going to pretend that this strikes me with horror - being poor and young at the period covered by this book was never very nice and for poor boys buggering older men or being buggered by them was probably a lot less unpleasant, less dangerous and better paid then most of the alternative things they might have had to do to eat. I don't justify or excuse it but it is important to remember just how bogus all the talk by the rich queens from Germany, France the UK, etc. about rediscovering the Platonic ideal of love between an older and younger men was. That talk was for dinner parties and euphemistic phrases in books. The reality was rich men who could do what they wanted with poor boys or poor people generally.

But Capri was a fascinating playground of relative freedom where the locals turned a blind eye to what the foreigners with money did. This book makes great use of various English novels of the twenties - perhaps too much - they are novels not factual accounts to describe what went on. It is a very lively and amusing description of this world. Originally published in 1980 long before anyone had qualms about what we in the west dud anywhere. It would not be written like that today but that doesn't make anything it says less true.

[John Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAPRI: ISLAND OF PLEASURE, by James Money, was a delight from start to finish. I've never visited Capri, but it hardly matters. I'm sure the Capri of today bears little resemblance to the strange enclave of expat eccentrics that is portrayed in Money's marvelous history. It's especially interesting in documenting the ways in which these eccentrics chose to live their lives (while on Capri) and living freely in ways that were not permitted by the laws of their native countries. That gay men and women (for example) were happy to live their lives openly even in the late 19th century, as long as they were in an environment that enabled them to do so, shows they would easily have done the same back home if the social constraints were not in place. It also makes me wish to seek out a number of other books, mainly works of fiction, related to the same subject and written by the eyewitnesses who were there (but who fictionalized everything and everyone to avoid libel) -- VESTAL FIRE by Compton Mackenzie, EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN by Compton Mackenzie, and SOUTH WIND by Norman Douglas. Then perhaps someday, if I ever visit Capri, I can use my imagination to conjure up what it must have been like just over 100 years ago, before the wars and before the movie stars.

[Rachel Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely detailed, although not entirely reliable. Money adopts freely from classic Capri novels like Extraordinary Women and Vestal FIre, which may be romans à clef, but are novels nonetheless. I would recommend it to anyone interested in a comprehensive and gossipy history of the island, but take what you read with a large pinch of salt.