"You ain't gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with a...
"You ain't gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me." Set in the late 19th century—when the city we now call Seattle Underground was the whole town (and still on the surface), when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable's high-quality bordello. Through Karen's eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group—and the poor and the powerful of the town. Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone's mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.
Why read: The central character is a prostitute and she’s utterly delightful. This is one of those books where it’s the POV character who sells it. Her voice is fantastic, and there are some laugh out loud moments just from her commentary on life around her. Which is not to say everything is lightness and wonder: this is a book set in a bordello, and Bear pulls no punches about the life or how lucky the women are to be working in this house rather than on the streets or in a crib. Our guide is so charming, though, that the reader is rooting for her and her friends from page one. I adored Karen more than I can express.
It’s a fantastically realised world, and the plots are as compelling as the characters. I couldn’t put it down. There’s the big plot, with dead bodies and politics and the seedy, awful side of prostitution, and there’s also the delightful and sweet romance between Karen and Priya. I didn’t expect to love both aspects as much as I did. This is a fantastic book that I highly recommend, and I can already tell that it’s going to be a regular reread for me.
(Trigger note: There is no on-page rape, but most of the central characters in this book are prostitutes. Stuff has happened to some of them, and it’s referenced in the text. Never graphically, but please practice self-care if you think this might be a problem.)
