My Lady Nicotine: A Study In Smoke

J. M. Barrie's book My Lady Nicotine is about a man's first love. The love, as implied by the title, is not for a lady but rather for tobacco, and more specifically for a particular mix of tobacco. The story mostly centers on his youthful years, when he would get together with his buddies to smoke his Arcadia tobacco blend, which they regarded as the pinnacle of all tobacco. In many ways, the story is less about tobacco and more about Victorian England's ideologies and the ways in which a group of men might come together to talk and have fun. The Arcadia blend may be what binds the buddies together, but most of the narrative focuses on their activities or sights when they are together. Of fact, this book and the same author's Little White Bird have a lot in common stylistically. Both stories revolve around single bachelors who spend a lot of time lazing around with close friends who also indulge in the same vices while being looked after by subpar individuals who are just suitable for serving. The aspects of his nephew's visit are uncannily identical to the games he used to play with his stepchildren.