![]() ![]() This isn’t as good and, despite the gruesome description of the plot in my first paragraph the main reason is that if feels overly glossy, particularly compared with Faber’s evocation of London of much the same period. There are obvious parallels to Michel Faber’s masterpiece “The Crimson Petal And The White” and this is a suggestion at the back of the book for further reading. Moth escapes but life on the streets is impossible in the New York of 1871 and she thinks herself lucky to be taken in by Miss Everett, a madam who sells the virginity of the girls she looks after to the highest bidder, then keeps just a select few on her books until the girls find a better offer, or, more frequently, get put out of the house. Main character is twelve year old Moth who is sold by her mother to the abusive and cruel Mrs Wentworth. The title refers to the misguided belief that syphilis could be cured by having sex with a virgin. This is Canadian author Ami Mckay’s second novel and she has chosen nineteenth century New York as her setting. ![]()
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