Review: The Virgin Cure

The Virgin Cure

Author: Ami McKay [Website|Facebook|Twitter|Pinterest]
Pages: 336
Publisher: Harper
Read: July 4-5, 2013
Source: Publisher for review via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
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 abandoned by her father and raised by a mother telling fortunes to the city's desperate women. One summer night, twelve-year-old Moth is pulled from her bed and sold as a servant to a finely dressed woman. It is this betrayal suffered at the hands of her own mother that changes her life forever.

Knowing that her mother is so close while she is locked away in servitude, Moth bides her time until she can escape, only to find her old home deserted and her mother gone without a trace. Moth must struggle to survive alone in the murky world of the Bowery, a wild and lawless enclave filled with thieves, beggars, sideshow freaks, and prostitutes. She eventually meets Miss Everett, the proprietress of an "Infant School," a brothel that caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for "willing and clean" companions—desirable young virgins like Moth.

Moth also finds friendship with Dr. Sadie, a female physician struggling against the powerful forces of injustice, who teaches Moth to question and observe the world around her. The doctor hopes to protect Moth from falling prey to a terrible myth known as the "virgin cure"—the tragic belief that deflowering a "fresh maid" can cleanse the blood and heal men afflicted with syphilis—that has destroyed the lives of other Bowery girls.

Ignored by society, unprotected by the law, Moth dreams of independence. But there's a high price to pay for freedom, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

First Sentence: "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."

Review:

Ami McKay's fiction came highly recommended, and I can certainly see why. The Virgin Cure was my first venture into her fiction but certainly shan't be the last. Slow-moving, contemplative and lush, The Virgin Cure is what I've come to expect from quality historical fiction.

Moth comes from the slums of New York City, Chrystie Street. Her mother works as a fortune teller, but they barely scrape buy, selling their possessions in the lean times. When need be, Moth's mother even trades favors to the landlord so he'll let her pay the rent late. In no way has Moth led a charmed life, so it's no surprise she dreams of escape, in the form of a beautiful house surrounded by gates. Perhaps sensing Moth's desire to fly for the light, her mother finds a placement for her in the house of a lady. Hard as life was with her mother, the lavishness of the upper classes hides damaged interiors, people just as screwed up as those without money. Where her mother withheld affection, Moth's new employer demands it, with pain as punishment for not meeting her every whim. Only twelve years old for most of the book, Moth faces the worst of what 19th century New York has to offer.

What's captivating about Moth is how incredibly young and old she feels all at once. At times, it's hard to believe she's only twelve, because she's so knowledgeable and strong. Other times her innocence and naivete, and the situations such a young girl is thrown into, about make you want to cry. Despite her tender years, she seems much more empowered and in charge of her own destiny than the average heroine. Even so, she's drawn like a moth to the light, but like Icarus it's warmth could be the death of her if she's not careful.

McKay's prose has a timeless quality, both capturing the historical era and not feeling heavy the way much historical fiction does. The Virgin Cure has an interesting format, interspersing little encyclopedia entries, letters, and newspaper articles throughout. Though I'm not entirely sure how I felt about their inclusion, it was esthetically pleasing at the very least, and it was nice having terms defined on the page, rather than having to flip to notes in the back or something like that.

Though I did quite enjoy The Virgin Cure, upon its conclusion I must admit I find myself a bit unsure what the point of it was. It may be that I simply wasn't paying enough attention at some crucial juncture to be able to pull the strings together, but I didn't get anything from it other than the joy of pretty writing and a compelling story, and I feel like there either was or should have been more. The ending came on in a rush, and the fates of the characters were so suddenly determined it has left me reeling.

All told, I deem my first McKay experience a success, and look forward to further of her works. I suspect readers who delighted in Memoirs of Geisha might appreciate The Virgin Cure, as it's a tale of a girl in similarly dire circumstances, only one with more gumption.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "We came from rear tenements and cellar floors, from poverty and pride. All sneak and steal, hush and flight, those of us who lived past thirteen, fourteen, fifteen years old, those of us who managed to make any luck for ourselves at all—we became New York."