The Book of the Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues

I've been looking for a book that went into detail about the lives of the Courtesans - how they lived, their impact on society, etc - having read Simply Irresistible by Ellen T. White I found myself wanting more. While scanning through amazon.com one day, looking for more books about Courtesans I came across The Book of the Courtesans by Susan Griffin. At first I though it was a love novel but as I read the description I realized it was not a love novel but a non-fiction book about the lives and times of some of the worlds greatest Courtesans. So I ordered it, and it took what seemed like for ever to arrive, until I realized that it was being shipped from England. I've just started to read this book and find myself completely fascinated and captivated. The stories about many of the different Courtesans are well developed, showing how much research and time the author spent on this book. I would highly recommended this book to any woman, who longs find the balance between being feminine and a feminist.

I love the history of courtesans and this book is a wonderful read of true accounts and how the code of courtesans made them elegant intelligent women in a gritty and Ill shown industry

I adore Susan Griffin - her book, Woman and Nature, is one of the most important books of the 20th century - but somehow I had never gotten around to reading this book before. What an eye-opener about women's history written in profoundly intelligent and deeply sensual prose! I'm sadly getting to the last chapter as I would happily keep reading more for months, and I've gotten at least 3 or 4 other people turned on to it.

As the title says, that's it.

I learned and did not realize how much these women influenced my independence. I have this independence in today's society such as a right to an education, right to own property, right to receive a decent wage, and to live independently because they dared to demand these rights for themselves. If they had not gone before us living their lifestyle with these rights we would have a much longer road to travel towards women rights as human beings.

The Book of the Courtesans is Susan Griffin's love letter to women of loose morals. For a book designated nonfiction, I found Griffin's writing to be more romance than history; she only peppers her daydreams of rags-to-riches courtesans and women of delightful freedom and tenacity with biographical information of the women themselves. The title suggests a structured look at the "virtues" of courtesans throughout history, so the author's bias is neither unexpected nor unappreciated (after all, I purchased her book because of my own personal interest in the subject). For the most part, the virtues she lists are what a reader would expect from the subject matter: beauty, wit, grace. However, the author takes numerous liberties with her own structure, and includes "virtues" such as timing (which I wouldn't necessarily call a virtue), and even includes "Her Pink Rabbits" under the chapter on "Brilliance". Hhmmm. The Book of the Courtesans is an exercise in purple prose and presumption as opposed to reliable research and true biography. While the reader will be treated to some information about the women who inspire Griffin's work, what they will largely encounter is Griffin's own romanticized imaginings of the world that these women create.

This work on courtesans is exemplary, the prose is superb and chalk full of moving lines of thought that also tell a story of women hidden away. The women presented challenge the view of conventional morality while still presenting the dangers and tragedies of the lives of the women presented.

It was riveting, entertaining and inspiring. ❤️ The book is well written, flows nicely and sucked me into the emotional lives of these women and their lovers.