The Empire of Sin. Courtesans, Prostitutes, and Concubines in Tsarist Russia

In her new book, writer and blogger Nika Marsh (author of the bestsellers "Princess for Sale", "Strong Ties", "Inside Out House", and "Cruel Marriage") boldly introduces the reader to the "glamour and misery" of brothels in the 19th–20th centuries, where luxury coexisted with despair, and heavy crimes were hidden behind outward respectability.

You will learn how women of this profession lived: "blank" loners and officially registered "yellow ticket holders", their resourceful "madams", "nannies", "generals", as well as "actresses", dancers, and singers, who were automatically equated by their contemporaries with concubines, how prostitution was linked to the criminal world, and how the state in different eras tried to combat this phenomenon or at least bring it under control.

How did the hawker Martha Skavronskaya become the Empress of All Russia? What age restrictions existed under Nicholas I for owners of houses of tolerance? How did "disguised dens" operate and what became of Teresa Grünwald, whom the critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov took under his wing from a brothel?

With remarkable sensitivity and insight, Nika Marsh creates a detailed picture of the typical life of prostitutes in Tsarist Russia, masterfully weaving into her complex research related themes: adultery and its perception in Russia, concubinage, noble harems, the criminal history of the empire, and many others. The book features representatives from various social strata: from the famous "Valdai girls" to the renowned ballerina Avdotya Istomina, whom Pushkin wrote about with admiration, from marginal figures to grand dukes.

This book is a living and insightful portrait of a society where sin became business and love became a commodity.