"The simmering menace and mystery kept me absolutely gripped...a smoldering novel that I could not put down." ––Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne "Rebecca meets The Secret History: gloriously dark, gloriously Gothic." ––Sara Collins, bestselling author of The Confessions of Fannie Langton Named a Best Book of 2021 by Goodreads • Entertainment Weekly • Parade • PopSugar • Brit+Co • Romper • Frolic • Crime Reads • SheKnows.com • Women.com Discover the secrets of Caldonbrae Hall in this riveting, modern gothic debut set at an all girls' boarding school perched on a craggy Scottish peninsula. For 150 years, high above rocky Scottish cliffs, Caldonbrae Hall has sat untouched, a beacon of excellence in an old ancestral castle. A boarding school for girls, it promises that the young women lucky enough to be admitted will emerge "resilient and ready to serve society." Into its illustrious midst steps Rose Christie: a 26-year-old Classics teacher, Caldonbrae’s new head of the department, and the first hire for the school in over a decade. At first, Rose is overwhelmed to be invited into this institution, whose prestige is unrivaled. But she quickly discovers that behind the school’s elitist veneer lies an impenetrable, starkly traditional culture that she struggles to reconcile with her modernist beliefs--not to mention her commitment to educating "girls for the future." It also doesn’t take long for Rose to suspect that there’s more to the secret circumstances surrounding the abrupt departure of her predecessor--a woman whose ghost lingers everywhere--than anyone is willing to let on. In her search for this mysterious former teacher, Rose instead uncovers the darkness that beats at the heart of Caldonbrae, forcing her to confront the true extent of the school’s nefarious purpose, and her own role in perpetuating it. A darkly feminist tale pitched against a haunting backdrop, and populated by an electrifying cast of heroines, Madam will keep readers engrossed until the breathtaking conclusion. They want our silence... They want our obedience... Let them see our fire burn

Some people need love... I need sex, money, control, and power.Anyone could have those four things, but only one could have VIP. Becoming Madam was never a choice for me, it was a mandated order from the most powerful woman I knew- my mother. I was born to fill her shoes, never to make mistakes, or to show weakness. You are the product of your environment. They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; you learn from what you see, not from what you're told. Nature vs. Nurture. I learned from it all; what I saw, what I didn't see, what I was told, and from reading between the lines.I was raised with the belief that the world spun ONLY because of me. I held power as far back as I can remember, saw things no one ever talks about, and witnessed illegal acts of sex, drugs, and money by the time I was eighteen. You saw a glimpse of me in VIP, now see it from the beginning. Enter my world where anything goes; no judgments, no remorse, no guilt. You play by my rules, or you don't play at all. There are no limits to what I can do, or to what I can show you...I will ensure my legacy by any means necessary.My name is Lilith Veronica Stone, and I am The Madam.

Soon to be a Netflix series starring Octavia Spencer, On Her Own Ground is the first full-scale biography of “one of the great success stories of American history” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Madam C.J. Walker—the legendary African American entrepreneur and philanthropist—by her great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles. The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Sarah Breedlove—who would become known as Madam C. J. Walker—was orphaned at seven, married at fourteen, and widowed at twenty. She spent the better part of the next two decades laboring as a washerwoman for $1.50 a week. Then—with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women—everything changed. By her death in 1919, Walker managed to overcome astonishing odds: building a storied beauty empire from the ground up, amassing wealth unprecedented among black women, and devoting her life to philanthropy and social activism. Along the way, she formed friendships with great early-twentieth-century political figures such as Ida B. Wells, Mary McLeod Bethune, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Booker T. Washington.

One of Bowling Green's most colorful characters, Pauline Tabor was known as the Madam at 627 Clay Street for nearly twenty-five years. A single mother during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Miss Pauline entered the world's oldest profession to support both herself and her two children. However, she quickly learned that it was more profitable to be a madam than "one of the girls", and so began her career as the owner of a brothel. Her early days in the 1930s weren't easy, when the going rate was "three dollars per encounter," but Pauline was smart and eventually opened her famous house on Clay Street in 1944. Through the years, Pauline fought against the US Army, law enforcement and the local courts, always seeming to come out on top. During the war years of the 1940s-50s, her close proximity to Western Kentucky State College (later University), and the US Army bases at Camp Campbell and Fort Knox were certainly good for business, and Pauline knew that running a good establishment would keep the boys coming back again and again. However, over time business began to fade during the sexual revolution of the 1960s, forcing Miss Pauline to close her doors in 1968. The Madam at Six-Twenty-Seven Clay Street tells the true story of Pauline Tabor and many interesting stories of her career in prostitution in the small town of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

A little girl imagines what her day would be like if she were Madam President. There would be executive orders to give, babies to kiss, tuna casseroles to veto (or VETO!)…and so much more! Not to mention that recess would definitely require more security. With deadpan wit and hilarious illustrations, best-selling picture book creator Lane Smith introduces readers to an unforgettable new character. /DIVDIV

The girls wanted to survive and live a fantasy that most women think of but never try. The forbidden frolic and the long walk to Satan's door and back again. This is about escorts who knocked upon that door and entered to lose their very souls to the money they made. There were those men and women that seemed to have the keys to Satan's many rooms. While other women made the journey that their various preachers told them they should never think about, and with soul still intact fell back into religion to preach the evils of the sin to which they had been exposed. Almost all of these women broke the cardinal rule of having sex without the piece of paper binding them to one man and only one man. The Harlots of San Francisco was who they were. For me they were my Professional Escorts. They were all part of the new Barbary Coast, the new public bounty of flesh for money trade abounding all through the last twenty years of the Twentieth Century.

Sex is for sale 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in Nevada's legal brothels. Former madam Lora Shaner takes you into the parlour -- and bedroom -- of Sheri's Ranch, in this compelling account of the sex-for-money culture. Read about the nun turned prostitute, the errant wife, the happy-hooker tag team, the pro with the heart of gold, and the turn outs, part-timers, sex addicts, adventure-seekers, and other ladies of the house. The newly updated Madam includes eight pages of photos and a new section covering the complete renovation of Sheri's Ranch -- the legal Nevada brothel detailed in the book since Madam's original publication in 1994.