At the Bottom of Odessa

Odessa. A city where the sea laughs with waves, and the streets whisper sinful temptations. Nadia came here for happiness – but found only dirt, betrayal, and a long path to the bottom. Lazar Karmen paints an unvarnished picture of Odessa's underground life: thieves' dens, taverns where cheap wine flows, and brothels that have become a last refuge for those with nowhere else to go.
Society called prostitutes "live goods," "fallen beings," unwilling to see real people behind these labels. But behind each name – a fate: Nadia, Betyа, Rosa the Gypsy, Sasha the Chansonnette, Toskа, Tsukki, Ksyura the Fire Barrel, Sima Fire... Their stories weave into a single picture of decline and despair.
Lazar Karmen (real name – Lazar Osipovich Korenman, 1876–1920) – a journalist and publicist, who was called "Odessa's Gorky" for his deep empathy for the humiliated and downtrodden. His novel "At the Bottom of Odessa" (1904) was a precursor to "The Pit" by A. Kuprin and "Odessa Stories" by I. Babel.
The book also includes: "Response to Vera" (1903), written together with V. Zhabotinsky, and the publicist brochures "Beware!" and "Wake Up!" (1904), compiled by the author for the Odessa branch of the Russian Society for the Protection of Women – these are appeals to solitary prostitutes and inhabitants of "fun houses," where he not only denounces the system but also offers real help.