December, 1765. In the early hours of the morning, Sukey Maynard flees her home - a brothel in Covent Garden. Her maidenhood is about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and she is too frightened to stay. But when she is captured and returned to the house of fallen sisters, she has a choice to make - should she stay, or should she run again?

As Sukey accepts her fate, she begins to learn how to navigate this strange new life of hers, and soon realises that there are those who wish her and her sisters harm. But this world that operates in the shadows has its own set of rules, and if Sukey is to survive then she must learn to play the game ...

From the brothels of Covent Garden to the oppressive society of the eighteenth century, Louise Hare's enthralling historical masterpiece paints a vivid picture of London's underbelly and shows how, even in the darkest of times, there is always hope for a better future.

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Praise for Louise Hare

'A tender, at times heart-breaking depiction of a city at once familiar and unrecognisable. It made my heart soar, and should be on every Londoner's shelf' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author

'Poignant and authentic ... it's [Hare's] steady, calm prose and the animating authenticity of her material that make it so hard to resist' Observer

'Hopeful and inspiring' Abi Dare