March 6, 2023
This evocative historical novel of rogues, sex, and found community from Lawrence (Hugh) finds young William “Billy” Dempsey, in London, 1771, cast aside by the Marquess of Argyll, a nobleman who had kept him in luxury as his live-in lover. Blue Billy—his moniker among sex workers—has no choice but to return to his former place of employment, a male brothel in a squalid area of the city. When he was just thirteen, Billy’s mother sold him into prostitution to Marathon Moll, who auctioned off his virginity to the highest bidder. Although Billy thought he’d secured a more comfortable life beyond Moll’s, the seedy brothel now is his last resort. His penchant for stealing makes Moll reluctant to welcome him back, until the house’s rising star, Sukey Chandler, befriends him. A string of adventures leads Billy to two men offering different futures and the possibility of departing the bawdy life on his own terms.
What the novel lacks in plot it makes up for in racy humor, rich atmosphere, and vivid characterization. Scenes like a staged “marriage” at Moll’s are uproarious, and the brothel offers a heartening sense of connection and camaraderie. Lawrence draws a sharp contrast, though, with life outside it, as Billy’s London is a foreboding place full of thieves and vagrants speaking a street dialect called “cat language,” one of many striking details that bring the milieu to life. (We learn that “stairs were dancers, cloaks doashes, pretty wenches dimbermorts.”)
Charming and sympathetic, Billy aims to rise above his origins in poverty, and Lawrence showcases his bold steps to do so in brisk, witty prose. Other characters also engage: Sukey, an aspiring stage actor who also yearns for a better life, makes a grand sidekick, while a rugged carpenter and a dapper “Beggar Extraordinaire” round out the cast as Billy’s competing love interests. The brothel setting might lead some readers to expect graphic sex, but Billy’s story veers more toward light historical romance.
Takeaway: A racy charmer finds a young man in Georgian London seeking a fresh start at a bawdy house.
Great for fans of: K.J. Charles, Mackenzi Lee
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A