prostitution
The demonising of homosexuals in postwar Britain
The tabloids in particular stirred up fear and distrust with lurid stories of orgies, prostitution, drug-taking, political corruption, sinister concealment and susceptibility to blackmail
Reluctant servant of the Raj: Burma Sahib, by Paul Theroux, reviewed
Few personal details survive about Eric Blair’s life as a policeman in Burma, making his years in the East fertile ground for the novelist
Tea and treachery: Sheep’s Clothing, by Celia Dale, reviewed
Posing as social services employees, two female ex-cons talk their way into the homes of elderly widows in order to drug them and steal their valuables
Ordinary women make just as thrilling history as great men
Philippa Gregory investigates the lives of English women over 900 years – in sickness, health, business, war, prayer and prostitution
Caught in a web of lies: The Guest, by Emma Cline, reviewed
Moving among the rich of Long Island, an upmarket prostitute grows increasingly desperate as her many misdemeanours are exposed
A showstopper is at the heart of this winning show: Dulwich Gallery's Reframed – The Woman in the Window reviewed
Themed exhibitions pegged to particular pictures in museum collections tend to be more interesting to the museum’s curators than to…
Angry diatribes and amusing pranks: Donmar Warehouse's Marys Seacole reviewed
The title of the Donmar’s new effort, Marys Seacole, appears to be a misprint and that makes the reader look…
Michel Houellebecq may be honoured by the French establishment, but he’s no fan of Europe
For many years, Michel Houellebecq was patronised by the French literary establishment as an upstart, what with his background in…
The sex work divide in British politics
They seem like completely unrelated questions: ‘Is sex work real work?, and ‘Who will replace Yvette Cooper as chair of…
Why is anyone still defending OnlyFans?
Starting in October, OnlyFans, which has 130 million users, two million contributors and billions in revenue will ban its creators…
Does a man have a right to pay for sex?
A case heard in the Court of Appeal today will decide whether or not carers should be expected to indulge…
So long to Leeds's appalling prostitution zone
Goodbye and good riddance to the Leeds ‘Managed Zone’ in which punters were given amnesty to buy the most disenfranchised…
Women of the streets: Hot Stew, by Fiona Mozley, reviewed
For a novel set partly in a Soho brothel, Hot Stew is an oddly bloodless affair. Tawdry characters drift in…
Undeniably eye-popping: BBC2’s Louis Theroux – Selling Sex reviewed
Victoria, a single mother in her early thirties, is getting her children ready for school — ensuring an equitable distribution…
Washed up in Istanbul: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World, by Elif Shafak, reviewed
Elif Shafak once described Istanbul as a set of matryoshka dolls: a place where anything was possible. As with much…
The gambler and the hooker: Awful Beauty, by Andrei Navrozov, reviewed
This book — the title is from Pasternak —is billed as ‘literary fiction’. The narrator, a Russian gambler and drinker…
I rented out my home. The tenants turned it into a brothel
I had been in Los Angeles for less than a month when I received the call from a concerned neighbour…
Mothers’ ruin
At the heart of Basic Instincts, the new exhibition at the Foundling Museum in London, is an extraordinarily powerful painting…
Letters
In defence of General Lee Sir: In your leader ‘America’s identity crisis’ (19 August) you state that ‘When General Lee…
The ‘sex worker’ myth
In the midst of all the outrage about modern-day slavery, usually vulnerable men forced into manual labour, there is actually…
'Wicked old Paris of the Orient': a portrait of 1930s Shanghai
Here’s the Mandarin for ooh-la-la! As Taras Grescoe, a respected Canadian writer of nonfiction, shows in this marvellous, microscopically descriptive…
Sorry, but saying ‘sex worker’ won’t lift the stigma
‘Of course,’ said my husband in his worst smirky way, as though waiting for an appreciative chuckle, ‘as soon as…
Modern Italy’s heart of darkness
Valerio Varesi, the Turin-born crime writer, displays a typically Italian interest (I would say) in conspiracy theory. The Italian term…
China’s brutal one-child policy will be catastrophic for us all
China’s brutal one-child policy was not only inhuman; it will profoundly damage the rest of the world, says Hilary Spurling
How they tried (and failed) to make ‘La Marseillaise’ nicer
Friendly words England football fans sang ‘La Marseillaise’ in a friendly match at Wembley. The anthem has not always been…
