Book Review: The Belle / The Brothel by Lesley Pearse

This is the second book for February! The Belle (or apparently The Brothel) by Lesley Pearse. Lesley doesn't have her own Wikipedia page! But I found something interesting on her own page.

Number One bestseller Lesley Pearse has created in Belle a heroine for our times: a strong woman who stands up for right in a world turned bad.

 Well I'm sorry to say, that's just wrong. The book is 574 pages and usually I prefer long books because the description is most of the time better. This book consists of 574 pages of copy-paste and you get so tired of it. I somehow assume that Lesley Pearse was paid by the word count!

Anyway, the book is about Belle who is sold into prostitution. Her family and friends search for her endlessly but she decides she likes selling her body for 2 dollars a night and that she is good at it so she does it but hates herself for liking it. Meanwhile a boy that fell in love with her before she was sold still loves her but she doesn't even write home because she is a prostitute. 574 pages later you want to slap some sense into her or burn the damn book!


Quotes from the book (no freaking favorite!)

  Page 99: It was bad enough that they were taking her to France, but Sly was sickened when Kent wanted her put in the trunk. Waiting so long at Dover had been one of the most agonizing times he'd ever known. If she'd woken up and started hammering on the trunk and alerted people, Sly knew he'd be facing a very long stretch in prison.

The kidnapper of Belle having some doubts.

  Page 211: The young man was growling more and more exited as Betty stripped off her clothes, and as she climbed up on to the bed and knelt beside him, she lifted her chemise to show him her private parts. Belle could see that she had a very luxuriant mount of dark curly hair there, and as the young man reached out to touch it, Betty groaned and arched her back, inviting him to take liberties with her.

Bella watching Betty (another prostitute) do her job.

  Page 246: It was she who had to put up with the men groping her, gawping at her, saying crude things, pawing her, fucking her and finally maybe even giving her the pox or making her pregnant. All Martha did was sit on her fat backside and watch the money flow in.

 Bella not happy about her pimp (Martha) getting all the money.

  Page 306: Almost daily she wished she were back with the other girls in Martha's kitchen over long, leisurely breakfasts, sitting around in their nightdresses with tangled hair, everyone talking at once about the night before and shrieking with laughter as one of them described a particularly odd experience. Then there were those lazy afternoons wandering the French Quarter or lying around in the back yard chatting and sipping cold drinks. She'd even give anything to hear the front-door bell tinkling, although that meant a gentleman was coming in and suddenly they all had to turn on seductive smiles and brace themselves for what was to come.

Bella being all sad when she didn't have to be a prostitute anymore.

  Page 551: Her eyes were growing used to the gloom now and she saw him pick up a lenght of cord to tie her hands behind her and round her ankles in much the same way he had the first time he captured her.

 Bella being kidnapped by the same guy again (she got kidnapped about 4-5 times in this book!)

I think these are enough quotes mostly because I really don't want to copy more of them!