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The Virgin Cure
by
Ami McKay (Goodreads Author)
From the author of the number one Canadian bestseller The Birth House comes the story of a young girl abandoned to the streets of post-Civil War New York City.
"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."
Set on the streets of Lower Manhattan in 1871, The Virgin Cure is the story of Moth, a girl aba...more
"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."
Set on the streets of Lower Manhattan in 1871, The Virgin Cure is the story of Moth, a girl aba...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
June 26th 2012
by Harper
(first published 2011)
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Dec 16, 2012
Petra X
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crap-authors-and-books-i-loathed,
fiction
This is a book I will not read. I have to tread on thin ice here since my last 'will not read' review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... was hidden (although probably not by the author's request. By someone who calls themselves A Hole, I was told). So thin ice it is.
I read a review of this book that made me think I would enjoy it so I looked up the book page and whoever wrote the synopsis had written the ENTIRE story out. A 45-line synopsis of the story indeed! A blurb would have sufficed....more
I read a review of this book that made me think I would enjoy it so I looked up the book page and whoever wrote the synopsis had written the ENTIRE story out. A 45-line synopsis of the story indeed! A blurb would have sufficed....more
I was looking forward to reading this, the story sounded interesting, granted disturbing but also interesting. I like reading novels set in this time period, 1871. Most of what I read during this period takes place in England so I was looking forward to reading about the filth and slums of New York City.
Moth is twelve years old, abandoned by her father and sold into servitude by her mother, she becomes a maid to the disturbed and abusive Mrs. Wentworth. Moth quickly realizes she must find anothe...more
Moth is twelve years old, abandoned by her father and sold into servitude by her mother, she becomes a maid to the disturbed and abusive Mrs. Wentworth. Moth quickly realizes she must find anothe...more
8 likes · like · see review
Ami McKay writes with storytelling ease of a young girl named “Moth” by a legendary pear tree on the crossroads of Pear Tree corner. As imaginative as this sounds, and though the novel is filled with a sort of Cirque du Soleil creativity in the trappings of the book’s characters from their costumes to their well-manufactured displays of propriety—the book is anything, but happy.
It tells of the polarity between decadence and poverty in the streets of New York in 1871, the age of mysterious outb...more
It tells of the polarity between decadence and poverty in the streets of New York in 1871, the age of mysterious outb...more
6 likes · like · see review
It was a good story. I like stories based on history or facts. This book wasn't as good as McKay's first novel. There were parts of the story which left loose ends and she didn't fall through with. Towards the last quarter of the book, the protagonist (a 12 year old girl) takes on too much understanding of men. Realistically, I don't think a twelve year old would have the thoughts or inklings that McKay wrote for her, no matter what she had witnessed.
I found Sadie, Moth and Cadet to be under de...more
I found Sadie, Moth and Cadet to be under de...more
The Virgin Cure is packed with interesting bits of history, period advertisements, and lush descriptions of dresses from Harper's Bazaar. It's a bit like leafing through a wonderful old scrapbook. It also makes me want to go out and buy a corset and gloves. Okay, maybe not the corset. (The descriptions of it are frightening).
I'm not yet finished reading the novel, but the relationship between the female physician (based on McKay's own great grandmother) and the young girl, Moth, is compelling an...more
I'm not yet finished reading the novel, but the relationship between the female physician (based on McKay's own great grandmother) and the young girl, Moth, is compelling an...more
Yesterday morning I received a copy of The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay from a friend of mine. It was the book of the month for the Yummy Mummy Book Club and I was eager to start reading it so I could actively participate in the discussion. Anyhow in just over 24 hours I have complete book!
I generally enjoy historical fiction because I usually learn something I didn't know before or am able to relate to other books I've read and The Virgin Cure didn't fail me. From the very beginning of the novel Ms...more
I generally enjoy historical fiction because I usually learn something I didn't know before or am able to relate to other books I've read and The Virgin Cure didn't fail me. From the very beginning of the novel Ms...more
Story Description:
“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.”
So begins THE VIRGIN CURE, bestselling author Ami McKay’s much-anticipated new novel. Set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in 1871, where the author’s own great-great-grandmother once worked as a groundbreaking female physician, the novel is told in the voice of Moth, the daughter of a Gypsy fortune teller and a ne’er-do-well who abandons them both a smile...more
“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.”
So begins THE VIRGIN CURE, bestselling author Ami McKay’s much-anticipated new novel. Set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in 1871, where the author’s own great-great-grandmother once worked as a groundbreaking female physician, the novel is told in the voice of Moth, the daughter of a Gypsy fortune teller and a ne’er-do-well who abandons them both a smile...more
Historical fiction is really not my favorite genre but I thought I would give it a try in an effort to learn something while reading. And I did learn a few things about New York life in the 1870s. Mostly I found the culture hugely brutalistic and the gap between rich and poor so hugely vast. I'll admit the end of the book made me queasy hearing from a young girls perspective exactly what they were put through to get off of the street, and also the way society just overlooked violent rapes if the...more
Mixed feelings as we discussed The Virgin Cure at last night’s book club.
While no one really loved the book, many of us liked it enough to consider reading Ami McKay’s highly successful debut novel, The Birth House, and the third in the series, to be released at a later date.
The Virgin Cure was inspired by McKay’s great-great grandmother, Dr. Sadie Fonda Macintosh, who practiced street medicine in the slums. McKay had intended to write the book in her grandmother’s voice, but while writing, she...more
While no one really loved the book, many of us liked it enough to consider reading Ami McKay’s highly successful debut novel, The Birth House, and the third in the series, to be released at a later date.
The Virgin Cure was inspired by McKay’s great-great grandmother, Dr. Sadie Fonda Macintosh, who practiced street medicine in the slums. McKay had intended to write the book in her grandmother’s voice, but while writing, she...more
"It takes equal parts desperation and courage to beg well. Passersby look at you and think there must be laziness in your blood, that you’ve a secret sense of ease and glee with every penny that comes your way. Oh, if only that were so."(p.122)
"The women in the picture cards I kept hidden in my skirt at the museum didn’t seem anything like Alice, yet gentlemen asked after them repeatedly, gazing on them, speaking of them as if they knew the ladies in the flesh. Demure or defiant, coy or come-hit...more
"The women in the picture cards I kept hidden in my skirt at the museum didn’t seem anything like Alice, yet gentlemen asked after them repeatedly, gazing on them, speaking of them as if they knew the ladies in the flesh. Demure or defiant, coy or come-hit...more
I did not really like this book. The author tells the story of Moth, a 12-year-old girl who has no choice but to become a prostitute in New York in the 1870's. I'm really not sure if I would have enjoyed such a story regardless of the writing style but the style definitely did not add to my enjoyment.
The characters all seem to be stereotypes: the naive narrator, the nonjudgmental doctor, the kindly circus manager who sees something special in a girl and gives her an unexpected opportunity, the c...more
The characters all seem to be stereotypes: the naive narrator, the nonjudgmental doctor, the kindly circus manager who sees something special in a girl and gives her an unexpected opportunity, the c...more
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay is an engaging read about a young girl named Moth who lives in the Bowery of Lower Manhatten in 1871. The Virgin Cure refers to the belief that deflowering a virgin can cure illness and in particular, venereal disease. Impoverished and without a roof over her head, Moth meets Mae who takes her home to a bawdy house where girls are fed, provided with lovely clothes, certified as virgins and sold for the night to the highest bidder after which the girl would work as a...more
//The Virgin Cure// is a sensitive, disquieting glimpse into urban life in early America. Author Ami McKay brings the period sharply into view while deftly exploring the plight of poverty-stricken women and children in New York who made up the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free who immigrated during the 1800s.
Rather than a boorish chronology, McKay brilliantly tells the poignant story about the slavery of one young girl. Twelve year old Moth, abandoned by her father and sold in...more
Rather than a boorish chronology, McKay brilliantly tells the poignant story about the slavery of one young girl. Twelve year old Moth, abandoned by her father and sold in...more
This author has a great grasp of history in the time periods she writes about. I find her books always well researched and written. I didn't like this one as well as her first book, The Birth House but I still enjoyed it.
Moth, the main character, comes from the slums and finds herself sold by her mother to a woman of means to be a maid and whipping girl. Eventually she ends up a student, learning the art of seduction in a whole that caters to the whims of older men seeking the companionship of y...more
Moth, the main character, comes from the slums and finds herself sold by her mother to a woman of means to be a maid and whipping girl. Eventually she ends up a student, learning the art of seduction in a whole that caters to the whims of older men seeking the companionship of y...more
It took me awhile to get to this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Moth, a young girl from the lower east side of Manhattan who is sold by her mother to be a servant. After suffering abuse at the hands of a cruel mistress, she runs away only to be ensnared by a high-class whore house.
Like The Birth House, McKay includes bits of historical ephemera in the narrative, including as newspaper articles, song lyrics, and excerpts from her own great-great grandmother's letters. This relative...more
Like The Birth House, McKay includes bits of historical ephemera in the narrative, including as newspaper articles, song lyrics, and excerpts from her own great-great grandmother's letters. This relative...more
This was a hard one for me to rate. I liked this book very much, but there were several things that kept me from loving it.
I really liked the character Moth. I loved her spunky ways and pragmatic outlook. There was just something about the way she was written that kept me from totally connecting with her. I liked her and cared about what happened to her, I just didn't feel her pain as my own. I liked her, but didn't love her.
I felt the same way about the female physician in the book. She did wh...more
I really liked the character Moth. I loved her spunky ways and pragmatic outlook. There was just something about the way she was written that kept me from totally connecting with her. I liked her and cared about what happened to her, I just didn't feel her pain as my own. I liked her, but didn't love her.
I felt the same way about the female physician in the book. She did wh...more
1 like · like · see review
The Virgin Cure by Ami Mckay takes you into the world of Moth, a young adolescent girl living in the slums of New York around ten years or so after the Civil War. Her Mother a would be fortune teller with Gypsy blood who cares more about her favorite tonic which has powerful doses of alcohol and drugs in it, then taking care of Moth or herself is not someone that Moth has had what the reader would see as a wonderful childhood with so far. Moth's mother is selfish, bitter, and cannot see beyond h...more
“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.”
I loved this book! It starts in the slums of lower Manhattan in 1871. The author weaves for us an unusual tale about a young girl struggling to survive. Early in life Moth is abandoned by her father and in a way her mother too. Although physically present her mother is not emotionally present. Moth finds herself basically sold into the employ of a cruel woman. At the tender ag...more
I loved this book! It starts in the slums of lower Manhattan in 1871. The author weaves for us an unusual tale about a young girl struggling to survive. Early in life Moth is abandoned by her father and in a way her mother too. Although physically present her mother is not emotionally present. Moth finds herself basically sold into the employ of a cruel woman. At the tender ag...more
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay is one of those standout novels that I will continue to think and ruminate about even after my reading and review have been completed. It's a story about the life of Moth, a girl who was abandoned by her parents in the slums of New York back in the 1870's. She is faced with some difficult choices after she manages to escape from the brutal woman to whom her mother sold her services - how can a girl survive by herself in the dangerous and dirty streets of the East Sid...more
Set in the slums of Manhattan, New York in the 1800s, “The Virgin Cure” by Ami McKay is the story of a young girl Moth, who is born “to a slum mystic and the man who broke her heart”. The novel deals with poverty in the city and the sexual exploitation of young girls. Parents, unable to support their children, sold them, as Moth’s mother did, to wealthier families as household help. There they were exploited and ill-treated. Like Moth, many of them ran away and ended up on the streets. Unable to...more
I enjoyed reading this book. I found it well-written, though sometimes I had difficulty keeping track of a few key details in the story. I wish I had known from the beginning that this was based on actual details from the author's family history. Reading that at the end made me want to go back and re-read the whole book.
I enjoyed the history, facts, and advertisements interspersed throughout the story. I felt they added an interesting context to the history. Some of the time, though, the adverti...more
I enjoyed the history, facts, and advertisements interspersed throughout the story. I felt they added an interesting context to the history. Some of the time, though, the adverti...more
I picked this book from a BOMC subscription, where my choices were limited, so I wasn't exactly super excited about the book. But I did find the book's topic interesting. And, well, I actually really liked the book. I found the author's writing style engaging and of good quality. I enjoyed all of the books characters, and found them distinct and interesting on their own (Moth, the main character, as well as a cast of secondary characters such as Lester, Miss Everett, Dr. Sadie, Mae, Alice, Mr. D...more
Jul 10, 2012
John
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
historical fiction readers
Shelves:
historical-fiction
Picture this: it's 1871 in Lower Manhattan. There in a seedy tenement on Chrystie Street, 12-year-old Ada "Moth" Fenwick lives with her mother, a fortune teller whose affections Moth desires, yet never receives. Ami McKay's thought provoking historical novel
The Virgin Cure
begins with these words:
Moth and her mother had been left in poverty by her father, the man who had giv...more
"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."
Moth and her mother had been left in poverty by her father, the man who had giv...more
In 1871 the streets of lower Manhattan are filled with the indigent, and those that are distressed often commit acts of desperation. This is the setting of Ami McKay’s latest novel The Virgin Cure. Twelve year old Moth and her mother are living hand to mouth since Moth’s father abandoned them, and in a true act of desperation Moth’s mother sells her into service. Abused and mistreated Moth soon finds a way back to her home only to find that her mother is long gone. Alone with no money for food a...more
Wow. It's infrequent that a book will capture my attention to the point where I am physically unable to put the book down. Right from page one I was captured. Yet again, Ami McKay wrote a book that brings forth the strength of women, and the ability to succeed the impossible. Written in a time period that I love - late 1800's, The Virgin Cure is a book of strength. The amount of research that Ms. McKay obviously did for this book is quite evident, and the end result of a book with such robustnes...more
Whether I had 10 minutes to spare or a few hours to read it flowed along nicely. The historical aspect was very interesting. Over 30,000 children lived on the streets of New York in 1870, with many more poor children with families struggling to put food on the table. The author also based the book on research that she had done into her Great-Great Grandmother's life as a doctor during this time. The main character, a young girl named Moth, was a likeable and strong character. The book was about...more
I'm back! Didja miss me?
I read, like, a ton of books since I last posted a review (breastfeeding, enough said), so I'm going to start to try to post reviews reverse chronologically. Here goes.
The Virgin Cure. Everyone's familiar with Chekhov's famous quote that a gun in Act 1 must be fired by the last act. Well, if you at all agree with this quote, then DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. Seriously. At the beginning, I was interested, maybe even intrigued - I needed to know how all these mysterious loose end...more
I read, like, a ton of books since I last posted a review (breastfeeding, enough said), so I'm going to start to try to post reviews reverse chronologically. Here goes.
The Virgin Cure. Everyone's familiar with Chekhov's famous quote that a gun in Act 1 must be fired by the last act. Well, if you at all agree with this quote, then DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. Seriously. At the beginning, I was interested, maybe even intrigued - I needed to know how all these mysterious loose end...more
4 likes · like · see review
Twelve year old Moth was given her name by a pear tree and in 1871 is sold into service by her mother, a fortune teller in the slums of New York. Having grown up in abject poverty, Moth, while terrified, is also fascinated by having food, a bed, and a dress that isn’t rags. But the position, as a ladies maid to a sadistic wealthy woman, turns into a horror story that makes even life in poverty look good. Back on the street, now not having even a filthy room with her mother, things look very bad...more
I picked up this book because of my interest in early New York city since I have old Dutch family connections there. The story follows 12-year-old "Moth", an orphan who never really knew her father and was sold off as a maid by her Gypsy mother. A kind female physician based on McKay's own Grandmother also plays a key role in the book. It is a kind of tragic coming of age story, where Moth experiences things that no young girl should experience.
I loved this book as it gets to the heart of the y...more
I loved this book as it gets to the heart of the y...more
Narrated by Moth, a 12-year old girl living with her mother in the slums of New York, the story tells of the plight of many poor young girls either sold into the households of the rich, or to one of the many brothels operating in the city at the end of the 19th century.
Fatherless and with a mother whose spirit has long been broken by hunger and poverty, Moth still has hopes for a brighter future. These are abruptly shattered, when at the age of 12 she is sold by her mother to become a maid in th...more
Fatherless and with a mother whose spirit has long been broken by hunger and poverty, Moth still has hopes for a brighter future. These are abruptly shattered, when at the age of 12 she is sold by her mother to become a maid in th...more
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| Goodreads Librari...: adding an edition | 3 | 25 | Nov 29, 2012 02:08pm |
Ami McKay’s debut novel, The Birth House was a # 1 bestseller in Canada, winner of three CBA Libris Awards, nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and a book club favourite around the world.
Her new novel. The Virgin Cure, is inspired by the life of her great- great grandmother, Dr. Sarah Fonda Mackintosh, a female physician in nineteenth century New York. Born and raised in...more
More about Ami McKay...
Her new novel. The Virgin Cure, is inspired by the life of her great- great grandmother, Dr. Sarah Fonda Mackintosh, a female physician in nineteenth century New York. Born and raised in...more
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“Standing in front of the girl's house, Mama yelled up at the windows, "Katie Adams, you whore, give me my husband back!" When Miss Adams' neighbours complained about all the noise Mama was making, my father came down to quiet her. He kissed her until she cried, but didn't come home.”
—
2 people liked it
“The house seemed almost without smells at all, pleasant or foul, leaving me to wonder if the upper class existed on a different sort of air from the rest of the world, a breeze piped into their homes from above the clouds, so clean you had to pay for it.”
—
1 person liked it
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May 20, 2013 07:36am