The Happy Courtesan, or Roxana

The beautiful Roxana was fifteen when her father married her off to a respected London brewer.

But the marriage did not go well — eight years later, the brewer went bankrupt and fled, leaving his wife without money and with five children.

Trying to achieve some status in life, Roxana hands over the children to distant relatives, becomes the mistress of her landlord, and becomes increasingly mired in vice…

«The Happy Courtesan, or Roxana» — the last novel by Daniel Defoe, published anonymously for many years.

In the novel, the author delves deeply into the psychology of the characters and tries to describe in detail the problems of a lonely woman in the patriarchal society of the 18th century.