Download or read book The Comfortable Courtesan written by L. A. Hall and published by Sleepy Wombatt Press. This book was released on 2017-12-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book In the Company of the Courtesan written by Sarah Dunant and published by Random House. This book was released on 2006-04-11 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment. Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid. With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and satisfy men who have the money to support her. Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s court. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all. A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paints a portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities at its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that remains vivid long after the final page.

Download or read book The Courtesan and the Gigolo written by Aaron Freundschuh and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-11 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intrigue began with a triple homicide in a luxury apartment building just steps from the Champs-Elyseés, in March 1887. A high-class prostitute and two others, one of them a child, had been stabbed to death—the latest in a string of unsolved murders targeting women of the Parisian demimonde. Newspapers eagerly reported the lurid details, and when the police arrested Enrico Pranzini, a charismatic and handsome Egyptian migrant, the story became an international sensation. As the case descended into scandal and papers fanned the flames of anti-immigrant politics, the investigation became thoroughly enmeshed with the crisis-driven political climate of the French Third Republic and the rise of xenophobic right-wing movements. Aaron Freundschuh's account of the "Pranzini Affair" recreates not just the intricacies of the investigation and the raucous courtroom trial, but also the jockeying for status among rival players—reporters, police detectives, doctors, and magistrates—who all stood to gain professional advantage and prestige. Freundschuh deftly weaves together the sensational details of the case with the social and political undercurrents of the time, arguing that the racially charged portrayal of Pranzini reflects a mounting anxiety about the colonial "Other" within France's own borders. Pranzini's case provides a window into a transformational decade for the history of immigration, nationalism, and empire in France.

Download or read book Innocent Courtesan to Adventurer s Bride written by Louise Allen and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Out of the brothel… Wrongly accused of theft, innocent Celina Shelley is cast out of the brothel she calls home and flees to Quinn Ashley, Lord Dreycott, for safety. But the heat in the daredevil adventurer's eyes tells Lina that the danger is just beginning.... And into the rake's bedroom! Lina dresses like a nun, looks like an angel, but flirts like a professional—and the last thing Quinn expects to discover is that she's a virgin!

Download or read book Mistress by Midnight written by Maggie Robinson and published by Brava. This book was released on 2023-03-14 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes excerpts from "Off kilter" by Donna Kauffman, "My fair highlander" by Mary Wine, and "Pride and pleasure" by Sylvia Day, (p. [275]-296).

Download or read book Courtesans written by Katie Hickman and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2004-11-02 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the course of the nineteenth century, a small group of women rose from impoverished obscurity to positions of great power, independence, and wealth. In doing so they took control of their lives -- and those of other people -- and made the world do their will. Extremely accomplished, well-educated, and unusually literate, courtesans exerted an incredible influence as leaders of society. They were not received at court, but inhabited their own parallel world -- the demimonde -- complete with its own hierarchies, etiquette, and protocol. They were queens of fashion, linguists, musicians, accomplished at political intrigue, and, of course, possessors of great erotic gifts. Even to be seen in public with one of the great courtesans was a much-envied achievement.

Download or read book A Courtesan s Guide to Getting Your Man written by Celeste Bradley and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2011-05-24 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Boston museum curator Piper Chase-Pierpont unearths the steamy memoirs of Regency London's most celebrated courtesan, the Blackbird, she's aroused and challenged by what she finds. Could the courtesan's diaries be used as a modern girl's guide to finding love and empowerment?

Download or read book Courtesan written by Diane Haeger and published by Crown. This book was released on 2006-07-25 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amid the disapproving gossip of the Court, a royal romance defies all obstacles. The Court of François I is full of lust, intrigue, and bawdy bon temps—a different world from the quiet country life Diane de Poitiers led with her elderly husband. Now a widow, the elegant Diane is called back to Court, where the King’s obvious interest marks her as an enemy to the King’s favourite, Anne d’Heilly. The Court is soon electrified by rumors of their confrontations. As Anne calls on her most venomous tricks to drive Diane away, Diane finds an ally in the one member of Court with no allegiance to the King’s mistress: his teenage second son, Henri. Neglected by his father and disliked by his brothers, Prince Henri expects little from his life. But as his friendship with Diane deepens into infatuation and then a romance that scandalizes the Court, the Prince begins to discover hope for a future with Diane. But fate and his father have other plans for Henri—including a political marriage with Catherine de Medici. Despite daunting obstacles, Henri’s devotion to Diane never wanes; their passion becomes one of the most legendary romances in the history of France. Also available as an eBook

Download or read book Kushiel s Dart written by Jacqueline Carey and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2002-03-15 with total page 930 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The lush epic fantasy that inspired a generation with a single precept: Love As Thou Wilt The first book in the Kushiel's Legacy series is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. A world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, deposed rulers and a besieged Queen, a warrior-priest, the Prince of Travelers, barbarian warlords, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess...all seen through the unflinching eyes of an unforgettable heroine. A nation born of angels, vast and intricate and surrounded by danger... a woman born to servitude, unknowingly given access to the secrets of the realm... Born with a scarlet mote in her left eye, Phédre nó Delaunay is sold into indentured servitude as a child. When her bond is purchased by an enigmatic nobleman, she is trained in history, theology, politics, foreign languages, the arts of pleasure. And above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Exquisite courtesan, talented spy...and unlikely heroine. But when Phédre stumbles upon a plot that threatens her homeland, Terre d'Ange, she has no choice. Betrayed into captivity in the barbarous northland of Skaldia and accompanied only by a disdainful young warrior-priest, Phédre makes a harrowing escape and an even more harrowing journey to return to her people and deliver a warning of the impending invasion. And that proves only the first step in a quest that will take her to the edge of despair and beyond. Phédre nó Delaunay is the woman who holds the keys to her realm's deadly secrets, and whose courage will decide the very future of her world. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book The Mistress of Paris written by Catherine Hewitt and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2017-01-24 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "First published in the United Kingdom by Icon Books Ltd"--Title page verso.

Download or read book The Duke s Stolen Bride written by Sophie Jordan and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-10-22 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: USA Today Bestseller! From USA Today bestselling author Sophie Jordan comes a scandalously sensual romance in her beloved Rogue Files series. “Deliciously sexy!”—Sarah MacLean, New York Times bestselling author An urgent dilemma… To save her impoverished family, Marian Langley will become a mistress. But she will not be just any mistress. Marian intends to become so skilled, so coveted, that she can set her own terms, retaining control over her body and her fate. Only one problem remains: finding a tutor… A scandalous solution… Other men deprive themselves of pleasure for propriety’s sake. Nathaniel, Duke of Warrington, would much rather be depraved. He slakes his desires with professionals who ask nothing of him but his coin. Marian’s proposal—that he train her without taking her virtue—is an intriguing diversion, until their lessons in seduction spin out of control. And a most unlikely duchess… When Marian is blackmailed into engagement by a man she despises, Nate impulsively steals her away. Though he never intended to take a wife, he can’t tolerate the idea of Marian forfeiting her freedom to another. But can he bear to give her what she demands—a real marriage?

Download or read book Gisaeng written by Masha Alexandra van der Heijde and published by . This book was released on 2018-01-19 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The existence of Korean courtesans remains mostly unknown in the western world, while much has been written about Chinese and Japanese female entertainers. This is partly because the official histories of Korea themselves remain quiet; even up to this day many formal histories of Korea describe little or nothing about them. Also, the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) resulted in a negative image for these women and their profession. It is a sad fact that, as Japan's military presence on the peninsula became overwhelming, the Korean courtesans were among the first to be pushed into the role of "comfort women" for the Japanese armies.Ironically, it was under Korean and Chinese influence that the Japanese developed their own specific courtesan culture. While in China the courtesan culture was firmly established in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and in Korea in the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392), the first Japanese pleasure quarter opened in 1589. This culture reached its height during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Japan, where it eventually developed into the geisha - most well known in the western world today. The Korean courtesan culture was just as marvelous as her Chinese and Japanese counterparts, and in the high days of their culture these women were admired and saluted. Indeed several famous courtesans are still remembered and celebrated today in both South and North Korea in stories, novels, performances and cinema. This book is intended to give insight into the illustrious courtesan culture of Korea.

Download or read book Beyond the Black Door written by A.M. Strickland and published by Imprint. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beyond the Black Door is a young adult dark fantasy about unlocking the mysteries around and within us—no matter the cost... Everyone has a soul. Some are beautiful gardens, others are frightening dungeons. Soulwalkers—like Kamai and her mother—can journey into other people's souls while they sleep. But no matter where Kamai visits, she sees the black door. It follows her into every soul, and her mother has told her to never, ever open it. When Kamai touches the door, it is warm and beating, like it has a pulse. When she puts her ear to it, she hears her own name whispered from the other side. And when tragedy strikes, Kamai does the unthinkable: she opens the door. A.M. Strickland's imaginative dark fantasy features court intrigue and romance, a main character coming to terms with her asexuality, and twists and turns as a seductive mystery unfolds that endangers not just Kamai's own soul, but the entire kingdom ... An Imprint Book “I couldn’t put down this deliciously dark dream of a fantasy.” —New York Times bestselling author Lisa Maxwell “A dark delight, gorgeously written and as twisty and enigmatic as a labyrinth at twilight. I wanted to stay lost in its pages forever, wandering ever deeper into the maze of Strickland’s beguiling, intricately imagined world.” —Margaret Rogerson, New York Times bestselling author of An Enchantment of Ravens

Download or read book My Lady Scandalous written by Jo Manning and published by . This book was released on 2005-08-23 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wicked turnabout on Jane Austen's oft-quoted adage -- "a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" -- isMy Lady Scandalous,a richly raucous history that traverses the notoriously licentious British Regency era in the company of its most celebrated courtesan.Following a simple Edinburgh girlhood, Grace Dalrymple came of age in the sin city of London, where wealthy men ruled society and women had everything to lose, starting with their reputations. As an impressionable bride of seventeen who married a man more than twice her age, Grace's remarkable beauty (likened by journalists to "a May morning") soon attracted the attentions of other men. A disastrous liaison with a consummate rake not only branded Grace as a demi-rep -- a woman with half a reputation -- but the scandal provoked Dr. John Eliot, her philandering husband, to pursue a divorce.Grace became mistress of the most infamous peer in England, George James, Lord Cholmondeley, whose "secret perfections" were reputed to inspire "female enthusiasm." Cholmondeley commemorated the relationship by commissioning two works from eminent portraitist Thomas Gainsborough, first in 1778 and later in 1782, the same year Grace gave birth to a daughter, Georgiana (who may, in fact, have been the child of the Prince of Wales). Had Grace been an aristocrat, she and Cholmondeley might have had a future together, but it was not to be.The tabloids broke the news: "Miss Dalrymple has embarked for France, and it is said parted with her noble gallant." Grace was soon to find a new protector in that nation's richest man, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans. Though Grace was ensconced as "one of the most brilliant and popular among the fashionable 'impures,'" her liaison with the duke turned perilous when Orleans fell to the Revolution's guillotine, just as she narrowly escaped with her life."People die, but love may not," declares author Jo Manning of her subject's romantic and historic misadventures. A connoisseur of the times, Manning ably demonstrates -- through contemporary newspapers, magazines, prints, and portraits as well as Grace's posthumously published journal -- how life in George III's England and Marie Antoinette's France can seem strangely familiar, especially when history turns to affairs of the heart.

Download or read book The Ironmaster s Tale written by L. A. Hall and published by Sleepy Wombatt Press. This book was released on 2019-02-28 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Josiah Ferraby is a wealthy Northern ironmaster, active in civic improvements. It is feared bearing another child will kill his beloved wife Eliza. As he is periodically obliged to go to London, where he is struggling to make the contacts they need to expand and develop their interests, she suggests he takes a mistress there, away from local gossip. He is introduced to the noted courtesan, Madame Clorinda Cathcart…

Download or read book The Courtesan and the Clergyman written by L. A. Hall and published by Sleepy Wombatt Press. This book was released on 2021-03-26 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Miss G- says 'tis nothing like sharping but the scientifick demonstration of certain principles in mathematicks, requiring only, she adds modestly, an accurate memory and a capacity for calculation. She goes on to say that she is in correspondence with a Fellow of the Royal Society, that considers her recent achievements constitute sound proof of certain theories of his own…We have now correspond’d for some months, she says, with wistfully romantick expression… Dearest Abby, I say finally… you are engaging in epistolary mathematickal flirtation with a clergyman. "Miss G- contrives to shock me" The Comfortable Courtesan: Volume 1 - Being MEMOIRS by Clorinda Cathcart (that has been a Lady of the Town these several years) And then, quite by chance, Abigail Gowing meets her clerical correspondent – Could anyone have foreseen what would happen then?

Download or read book Legacies of the Comfort Women of World War II written by Margaret D. Stetz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-12 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories of the former comfort women have galvanized both Asian and non-Asian intellectuals working in a variety of fields. Scholars of Asian history and politics, feminists, human rights activists, documentary filmmakers, visual artists, and novelists have begun to address the subject of the comfort system; to take up the cause of the surviving comfort women's sturggles; to call attention to sexual violence against women, especially during wartime; to consider the links among militarism, racism, imperialism, and sexism; and to include this history into 20th-century political history. This volume contains a cross-section of responses to the issues raised by the former comfort women and their new visibility on the international stage. Its focus is on how theorists, historians, researchers, activists, and artists have been preserving, interpreting, and disseminating the legacies of the comfort women and also drawing lessons from these. The essays consider the impact and influence of the comfort women's stories on a wide variety of fields and describe how those stories are now being heard or read and used in Asian and in the West.