The Covent Garden Ladies, Hallie Rubenhold
The Covent Garden Ladies, Hallie Rubenhold
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The Covent Garden Ladies
Pimp General Jack & The Extraordinary Story of Harris' List

Author: Hallie Rubenhold

Narrator: Lucy Rayner

Unabridged: 11 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/29/2019

Categories: Nonfiction, History, Women

Synopsis

The Covent Garden Ladies tells the story of Samuel Derrick, Jack Harris, and Charlotte Hayes, whose complicated and colorful lives were brought together by the publication of Harris's List, an infamous guidebook of prostitutes which detailed addresses, physical characteristics, and "specialties." The true history of the book is a tragicomedy motivated by poverty, passionate love, aspiration, and shame. Its telling plunges the listener down the dark alleys of eighteenth-century London's underworld, a realm populated by tavern owners, pimps, punters, card sharps, and of course, a colorful range of prostitutes and brothel-keepers.

About Hallie Rubenhold

Hallie Rubenhold, a social historian and frequent consultant for period dramas, is the author of The Covent Garden Ladies, the inspiration for the Hulu series Harlots, in addition to The Scandalous Lady W and The Five. She is also the author of the historical novels Mistress of My Fate and The French Lesson.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sally on June 29, 2014

This is a great little book. I'd heard of Harris's List from my studies of the period at university, and had read some extracts from it. This book traces the interweaving stories of three of the people involved in its production, and in doing so, introduces a lot of other personalities and explores......more

Goodreads review by Miranda on March 30, 2018

On the plus side, this book is a compelling narrative about figures we don't hear much of in history, namely prominent members of London's underworld during the Georgian Era. Rubenhold's prose is good and it's a fast read. Rubenhold's obvious disdain for her titular subjects is the book's major weakn......more

Goodreads review by Jenny on March 30, 2012

The title did not do justice to this book. Indeed, it almost kept me from reading it. What it is is a group biography of three people involved with prostitution in mid-1700s London. The author weaves their stories together in a way that illuminates their sordid world. Rubenhold manages to find a way......more

Goodreads review by Zoe on June 21, 2021

4.5 review coming soon......more

Goodreads review by Lois on May 10, 2017

Not as much about the show Harlots on Hulu as I thought......more

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