A review by wyemu
Courtesans by Katie Hickman

1.0

Taking five courtesans as 'case studies' Hickman looks to explain the social and economic times in which they lived. Unfortunately not many of those she looks at had happy endings, failing to save their money when they had it and ending up nearly penniless. The social conventions are well explained, however, there are times when she seems to go off on a tangent in trying to explain these conventions in detail. Whereas I think using specific examples of well known courtesans worked well to give an example of the changing times in which they lived, it would also have been useful to get a general overview of other courtesans working at that time and a general chapter on how society viewed them and their place in it.