When Red House Alley first appeared (as Der heilige Skarabäus, The Sacred Scarab) in 1909, it sent shock waves through Viennese society. For the first time, girls and women caught up in the sex trade were portrayed as human beings, not predators or mindless victims. The book became a bestseller and was considered one of the most important German novels of the early 20th century. Banned as decadent by the Nazis, it was forgotten for over 75 years. Red House Alley is the first complete and uncensored English translation of this landmark work. It reveals how the brothel system operated, how girls and women were procured and destroyed, and how citizens, the police, and the legal system fostered a trade that public morals condemned.Yet Else Jerusalem refuses to accept degradation as the only fate for the women of Red House, and in Milada, she creates an empowered woman who finds an escape for herself and others. Drawing directly from her own observations of the life of sex workers in Freud's Vienna, Else Jerusalem crafted a story that even now seems fresh, original, and relevant. Red House Alley is destined to take its rightful place as a classic of feminist literature.

Else Jerusalem's novel about sex workers in 19th century Vienna.

In her critically acclaimed, ingenious memoir, Sarah Messer explores America’s fascination with history, family, and Great Houses. Her Massachusetts childhood home had sheltered the Hatch family for 325 years when her parents bought it in 1965. The will of the house’s original owner, Walter Hatch—which stipulated Red House was to be passed down, "never to be sold or mortgaged from my children and grandchildren forever"—still hung in the living room. In Red House, Messer explores the strange and enriching consequences of growing up with another family’s birthright. Answering the riddle of when shelter becomes first a home and then an identity, Messer has created a classic exploration of heritage, community, and the role architecture plays in our national identity.