Courtesans : Money, Sex and Fame in the Nineteenth Century
Author:
Genres: History, Nonfiction
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: History, Nonfiction
Book Type: Paperback
Ms Hickmans book focuses on the lives of five English courtesans: Sophia Baddeley (1745-1786), Eliabeth Armistead (1750-1842), Harriette Wilson (1786-1845), Cora Pearl (1835-1886) and Catherine Walters (1839-1920.) During each of these stories she does spend some time on other courtesans of some name during the existing time frame, but the main focus of each section is the five courtesans she researched and the story of each ones life as a woman of the demi-monde.
The stories of each woman are well told and very interesting. Each ended up as a courtesan for a different reason but found the life of a courtesan one that gave them the independence that they desired. An independent life was one that a respectable woman couldnt have but as a courtesan, it was one that was allowed, although with some restrictions.
A few things were a bit annoying. Like terminology she would refer to the brothels as nunneries with no notes that this was a colloquial term for a brothel at the time. And, along the same lines, the madam of the brothel would be referred to as the abbess. There were some other terminology pieces and cultural norms that could have been better explained.
The thing the author did that I found the most annoying was to present entire conversations or descriptions in French with the English translation following in parenthesis. At one point, she wrote that the English translation was nowhere near as beautiful at the French. Well, I dont speak French and the authors apparent expectation that the readers of this book would speak French was annoying. The untranslatable part was obviously translatable and I understood the translation and found it to be beautifully written. In fact, I didnt read any of the French passages as I dont speak, read or understand French beyond please and thank you. Personally, I would have preferred she do footnotes with the original French for those who would desire to read the passages in their original form. The book is already filled with footnotes and couple more for the original French wouldnt have hurt.
I also think you could skip reading most of the introduction it didnt really add any valuable information to the stories and most of the information was just repeated once you started reading the stories of the courtesans.
Despite all my negatives, I really did enjoy the stories of the woman and what their lives were like.
The stories of each woman are well told and very interesting. Each ended up as a courtesan for a different reason but found the life of a courtesan one that gave them the independence that they desired. An independent life was one that a respectable woman couldnt have but as a courtesan, it was one that was allowed, although with some restrictions.
A few things were a bit annoying. Like terminology she would refer to the brothels as nunneries with no notes that this was a colloquial term for a brothel at the time. And, along the same lines, the madam of the brothel would be referred to as the abbess. There were some other terminology pieces and cultural norms that could have been better explained.
The thing the author did that I found the most annoying was to present entire conversations or descriptions in French with the English translation following in parenthesis. At one point, she wrote that the English translation was nowhere near as beautiful at the French. Well, I dont speak French and the authors apparent expectation that the readers of this book would speak French was annoying. The untranslatable part was obviously translatable and I understood the translation and found it to be beautifully written. In fact, I didnt read any of the French passages as I dont speak, read or understand French beyond please and thank you. Personally, I would have preferred she do footnotes with the original French for those who would desire to read the passages in their original form. The book is already filled with footnotes and couple more for the original French wouldnt have hurt.
I also think you could skip reading most of the introduction it didnt really add any valuable information to the stories and most of the information was just repeated once you started reading the stories of the courtesans.
Despite all my negatives, I really did enjoy the stories of the woman and what their lives were like.
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