I found this book fascinating and could not put it down! Wow the times were so much different in 1700 life. Where prostitution was celebrated! It was a thoroughly researched book and I found the author wrote it well and done all the people justice

This book talks about sex workers in Georgian era England (1714-1830) who were the Instagram influencers of their day. They would be invited to prominent events and parties, set fashion trends, and even have their own clothing lines. The newspapers would talk about them like gossip magazines now talk about celebrities. This was a really interesting read and I liked that the author clearly really researched it. I thought he did get a bit redundant in repeating information, stories and statements multiple times that felt like space filler to get the page/word count up, but overall this was a really interesting read.

*a copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I was so excited when I received a copy of this book, this time period really excites me and to learn about strong women in history made it even better. The courtesans in this book were talked about like the celebrities of our modern day, but it was also so sad to read how hard their lives were. Even though most of these women were talked about constantly amongst the ton the were treated very poorly. Mike Rendell did a wonderful job on this novel it was so beautifully written. I'm so happy I was able to read this it was a very entertaining read, thank you to Net galley for the free copy.

This is an entertaining book about these fashionable trendsetters and businesswomen who found independence in the Georgian era. They found a difficult way to make money and had rather sad and hard lives (in my opinion) so I enjoyed the story of Elizabeth Armistead the best. She seemed to be the most likeable.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I absolutely loved history and this book gave me a history lesson into something I briefly was taught in an early UK Crime class. It is an excellent book about a topic that many don’t wish to discuss but is a critical part of history. This is the type of history many would like removed from books and I’m so happy this author chose to write on this topic. I had an amazing UK Criminal History professor who had our class read “Moll Flanders” and used it to teach us how important these women were to the building and development of countries and laws. Excellent book.

Wow, this was a tantalizing and engaging book to read. It was very informative but yet also very entertaining, loved it!!!

I have a degree in ethnology and thusly I very much enjoy reading and learning about people and how everyday life has looked throughout the ages, especially for the lower classes. Not all women in the Georgian sexmarket was poor - which this book certainly portrays and looking back in history we all know that many women worked their way up from working the streets to become prominent figures in their societies instead. In that regard Mike Rendell’s book was a great way to spend time on going to work.

I find Georgian time (ca. 1714-1830s) interesting because the people who were living then are only a few generations back, and so much of what is taken for granted in Western Europe today started in this period.

All in all, an informative and interesting book.

I thought that this was a really interesting look at different lives of Georgian women , than just the high class ladies or the poor , this is about the sex workers and how some were the celebrities of their day.
I did enjoy this but I’m not sure it’s just a normal history book, it feels more like a book for research. As a research book it is fantastic, but as someone just wanting to read about history it’s probably too heavy in detail for them.


Than you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

It took a while for this book to find its pace but once it did there were some interesting accounts of people whose stories are not often surfaced in traditional history books,

This was a very informative book as it talks about an aspect of Georgian society that is less known or discussed.
The high-end courtesans were fascinating characters and 'I'm happy i learned something about them and their life.
A fascinating and well researched book even a bit dry at times.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to the publisher and author for giving me the chance of reading this book.

I totally loved this book. The regency era is one of my favorite fashion period from the Georgian era in history and I throughly enjoy reading and educating myself about this period overall, So when I saw that this book was about hookers in the eighteen century I HAD to read it. The tone the author put into this book was so much fun and made me want to learn more and more, literally made me feel like I was there hanging out with my girlies.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Really enjoyed this
Really well researched and written

I looked forward to reading this book, because I have read several books on this subject and I have written a paper. In my research, I was surprised with the manner that the madams ran their houses as a sucessive business, thus they managed a pretty good living. The highend houses employed women that could carry themselves with such poise that they could feel comfortable in any ballroom and fit in. The women outlined in the book were just like this type of woman. The author wrote about several women, I am highlighting only one example.
The first of the many examples of the the women featured in the book was Fanny Murray. She was considered a celebrity whore and a man with the name, John Harrison who was better known to be a businessman and pimp, A gentleman named Samual Derrick requested that Harris put his name on the book, "Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies", which can still be purchased on EBay. The book described Fanny as a beautiful woman and the painting posted in the book portrays her beauty and the painting looks like it could hang in any palor.
I thoroughly enjoyed the manuscript; however, I don't know if I would randomly pick it up to read. I would recommend this book as scholarly research material. I appreciated the writing and the research done by the author and for that reasons, this is a five star manuscript.
Than you to NetGalley , Mike Rendell, and Pen and Sword History for the privilege of reading this work and I have written an honest review.

This was one of my first Netgalley books and I thought it was cool as shit.

I used to think of whores as poor women with no influence just doing what they needed to do to survive. While there were plenty of women that subscribed to my previous views, this book showed a different side and painted some of these women as celebrities- women that were fashion trendsetters, wealthy at times, and engaged in "whore-like" activities simply because they enjoyed the very act as most of us do.

One of my favorite parts was about a stage coach "accident" that reminded me of nip slips and "accidental" videos on Instagram in today's world. 🤐🧐😲

The whores of the past were basically the celebrities of today.

Entertaining and informative! A great look at the lives of a small group of women who did their best to take control of their lives and become trendsetters in a time when men kept women out of power. My only complaint is that only a few women are profiled and the author forgets the ultimate Cinderella model, Nell Gwyn.