Future Canadian classic will captivate
Written by Rebekah Benoit
Wednesday, 18 January 2012 13:36
The Virgin CureAmi McKay, best known for her novel The Birth House, again transports readers back in time in her latest, The Virgin Cure. McKay’s signature style, gripping and engaging while at the same time lyrical, is well showcased in this book, which takes readers to Manhattan circa 1871, a time when the divide between rich and poor was more like a chasm, and a young girl’s virginity could be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
The heroine of The Virgin Cure is the oddly named Moth, daughter of a gypsy fortuneteller and resident of Chrystie Street, one of Manhattan’s most notorious slums. To her beloved Mama, Moth is nothing more than a commodity to be bought and sold, and when Moth turns 12, that’s precisely what happens—her mother sells her to a rich woman in the market for a housemaid.
When Moth goes to work for the elegant Mrs. Wentworth, however, she discovers that there’s a reason the lady is shopping for a maid in the slums. Mrs. Wentworth is a cruel sadist, turning her own unhappiness at her failing marriage on her hapless female servants, and within weeks, Moth realizes that she must escape Mrs. Wentworth’s tight grasp or risk losing her life.
Enter Miss Everett, resident of the Bowery, a neighbourhood rife with prostitutes and pickpockets. Miss Everett runs a brothel, but she’s no ordinary madam. Her establishment is what’s known as an “infant school,” a brothel that specializes in offering young, unspoiled girls to the highest bidder. Miss Everett can provide young Moth protection in the form of a nice room, lovely clothing and meals, but the price Moth will pay is a high one.
Each week, she and the other residents of the brothel are paraded in front of a group of bidders, and eventually, when Miss Everett deems it time, they will be auctioned off, one by one.
Some of the “gentlemen” who seek the girls in Miss Everett’s employ are looking for the elusive “virgin cure.”
Stricken with syphilis or other diseases, they believe that a night with an unspoiled young girl will cure them of their terrible afflictions. The consequences for their hapless young victims are more than just shame and social penury—in an age when the medical profession was still in its infancy and reliable treatments for venereal disease virtually nonexistent, the girls faced death or lifelong disability.
But Moth realizes her options are few. Alone and vulnerable with nowhere else to turn, the pragmatic Moth accepts Miss Everett’s offer and is soon ensconced in the brothel, awaiting her turn to be auctioned off.
Her only salvation may lie in the form of Dr. Sadie, a female doctor in a trade dominated by men. Dr. Sadie has made it her mission to provide medical services to the unfortunate young girls caught up in the murky world of prostitution, and she’s determined to save Moth from the short and miserable life that awaits her in the Bowery.
Despite her humble station, Moth has big dreams of living in a fine house with servants of her own one day, and with the help of Dr. Sadie, and her own wits and street smarts, she may just beat the odds and escape the Bowery and Miss Everett.
McKay’s narrative style is eminently readable, and the world she creates is a fine mix of historical detail and captivating prose. I particularly liked the “asides” McKay includes throughout the novel, bits of historical trivia that add a certain authentic flavour to the novel.
The fact that McKay’s own great-great grandmother was also a young female physician who worked in Manhattan adds depth to the novel and brings the character of Dr. Sadie, as well as the women she struggles to save, to vivid and brilliant life.
I loved this book. It’s a future Canadian classic that won’t fail to captivate anyone who loves historical fiction.
Five teacups