I read this entire book but I did not like it much. It was just weird...I never would have guessed or even could have pictured this book going the way it went and I didn't like it. I loved how Lydia starts her life on her own terms, I love the concept of a "lady of the night" being independent...a la Sugar...but I just didn't feel the connection to this book that I wanted to. ( )

Faye Booth has written a different kind of historical romance. It’s set in Victorian days, but this is no tale of a poor but genteel woman rescued by a duke or lord. Protagonist Lydia Ketch is only a teen when her mother dies in wretched poverty, with her last words to Lydia being to take care of her younger sister Annabel- the brains of the family, the one with a future. There aren’t many options for poor girls with no family in that era, so Lydia picks the one that looks to be the most lucrative- she enters ‘the trade’.

Good luck is a relative thing; most people wouldn’t think of working in a brothel as ‘good luck’. But in that time and place, the stability, comfort and safety of a brothel is a downright luxurious situation compared to working the streets. Preston may not be London, where the Ripper is on the loose, but the streets still present dangers to women. The fact that Lydia finds a madam who is good to her ‘girls’- and even allows Annabel to work there as a maid while finishing her schooling- is a huge bonus. The working girls and Annabel all dream of a fairy tale ending to their lives.

Lydia knows there is no such thing, especially for such as her. When she meets Henry Shadwell, a young surgeon who is making extra money with both pornographic photography and illicit anatomy lessons- stolen bodies and all- she finds her world expanding, both sexually and financially. She’s smart, ambitious, hard working and ready to take on any new situation, and makes the most of her opportunities. Life is looking up. But not too far up; she is to know tragic loss, and while Henry is a kind man with a passion for Lydia, he is still a man of his time and class, not a prince on a white horse.

There are no caricatures here, no black or white. The world and the characters are shades of gray as all real people are. Booth has done a lot of research of the era and it shows in her novel. Recommended! ( )

In 1888 Lydia Ketch is working in a small brothel, having seen her mother die in poverty. She's supporting her sister through school as well, hoping that at least her sister might have hope of a better life.

She meets Henry Shadwell, a young surgeon with an interest in dissection and pornography. The two of them form a mutually beneficial relationship. The only problem is she can't be a permanent part of his life. What can they do with their lives?

It's an interesting one, a slice of Victorian life, a look into the benefits and costs of pornography and prostitution. Occasionally I wondered where it was going with the story but overall it was interesting. The cover would lead you to believe that there is murder or vampirism but this isn't true. ( )