The Virgin Cure

by Ami McKay

This is a story set in the late 1870's in New York.  It is the story of a young girl named Moth who is sold by her mother to be a lady's maid for a rich woman.  Moth's father is the person who gave her her name, he abandons her mother and her and they are struggling in poverty.  The woman wants the young girl to show her affection but beats her all the time. She cuts the girl's hair off.  Finally she girl can't take anymore and she runs away.   Moth returns to her mother's place to find that her mother is not longer there.  Moth later hears news that her mother's body has been found in the river.  She was badly beaten.

Despite her poverty, Moth always dreams that she will some day be independently wealthy and live in a grand home.

Moth survives by begging and stealing until she meets a young girl who invites her to come with her to be trained to be a prostitute.  The girl agrees and is accepted by a Madam who starts to train her on how to behave and dress, provides her with a wardrobe and room and board.  This particular Madam is catering to high class clients and takes her time in getting the girls ready to meet her clients.  The first meetings involve going to a local "freak show theatre".  Two of the girls sneak away from one of their dates and one of the girls is attacked and gang raped and likely will get syphyllis because one of her attackers was diseased.  The book gets its name from the belief that men had that they could be cured of venereal diseases if they had sex with a virgin.

The young girl is terrified about becoming a prostitute but doesn't think she has much choice.  Her "coming out" is delayed when the owner of the freak show asks her boss if he can have her services to sell  postcards as souvenirs of the show.  She is dressed in a dress with pockets sewn on it where she can hold the cards she has for sale.

A female doctor works for the Madam to help look after the health of the girls.  She tries to convince Moth that she can get her away from this life.  Moth resists because she cannot see that she has any options.

One day, the husband of the woman who had beat her comes to the show.  He is smitten with her and asks her Madam if he can take her out.  The Madam agrees.  She gets a higher price from men for offering them a virgin.  Moth has a date with him and then he comes to have sex with her.  He is very brutal with her.  When he is done she  pretends to read his palm and tells him their is ill will in his house and that he is in danger... getting back at his wife... He is furious at what she says.After this Moth runs to the Doctor and asks for her help and the doctor takes her in.  Moth then goes to the owner of the freak show to ask him if she can be one of his performers and he hires her.  She is able to make enough money so that eventually she is able to have a place of her own and takes up her mother's trade of telling fortunes for rich women.

This was a very interesting book.  The author gave you a real sense of how hard life could be for the poor at that time, and the options for young girls.  It was nice to have a book that had a happy ending for a change.