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The Virgin Cure cover art

The Virgin Cure

Written by: Ami McKay
Narrated by: Ami McKay, Sofia Banzhaf, Aidan deSalaiz, Martha Irving
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Publisher's Summary

The much-anticipated follow-up to The Birth House, The Virgin Cure secures Ami McKay's place as one of our most powerful storytellers.

"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart."

The Virgin Cure begins in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871. A series of betrayals lead Moth, at only twelve years old, to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, where eventually she meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as "The Infant School." Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are "willing and clean," and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth.

While Moth's housemates risk falling prey to the myth of the "virgin cure"—the belief that deflowering a girl can heal the incurable and tainted—her new friend Dr. Sadie warns Moth to question and observe the world around her so she won't share the same fate. Still, Moth dreams of answering to no one but herself. There's a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.
©2012 Ami McKay (P)2021 Vintage Canada
Historical Fiction Coming of Age Genre Fiction
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What the critics say

"Impossible to put down." —Toronto Star

“Finely crafted and remarkably researched. . . . A unique achievement. . . . While set in the past, the book informs the modern dialogue on feminism, the sex trade, and choice.” —Stacey May Fowles, The Walrus

“A worthy follow up to . . . The Birth House. . . . Character, setting, mood and plot are melded naturally to create a Dickensian world of deprivation and determination.” —Winnipeg Free Press

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Enjoyed this listen

I enjoyed this book. the author keeps you interested. It is very well narrated and easy to listen too. the narrator does an amazing job differentiating the different characters.

I did not love the book as much as I did the Birth House, that being said I did enjoy it. the author does such an amazing job describing the way of life for the time periods in her books. I am looking forward to The Witches of New York.

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