Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris

About this book

Step into the glittering and dangerous demimonde of Enlightenment-era Paris with this acclaimed scholarly history of elite prostitution. Drawing on rich police archives, historian Nina Kushner reconstructs the lives of the dames entretenues, the kept women who built careers, households and fortunes by selling companionship and intimacy to wealthy patrons. The book opens with the dossier of Demoiselle Varenne, a surgeon's daughter from Angers who rose from a high-end brothel to run her own household, and whose story unfolds through the sarcastic, detailed reports of Paris police inspectors. From her tale emerges a bigger picture: women who negotiated contracts, managed money, bought furnishings and made careful decisions about love, risk and survival. Erotic Exchanges treats sex work as work. It examines how these women navigated patrons, brothels, police surveillance, debt and reputation, and what their experiences reveal about gender, economy and everyday life in eighteenth-century France. Well researched and clearly written, this volume is ideal for readers of French history, women's and gender history, social history and the history of sexuality, as well as anyone curious about the real people behind the legends of old Paris. Around 130,000 words across 17 chapters, with acknowledgments and an introduction that sets out the central questions. Buy now and start reading online instantly in your browser.

Author

Nina Kushner

Length

~471 pages

Reading time

9 h 24 min

Chapters

17

Released

October 24, 2026

Languages

🇬🇧 EN · 🇵🇱 PL · 🇩🇪 DE · 🇫🇷 FR · 🇪🇸 ES · 🇮🇹 IT · 🇧🇷 PT-BR · 🇲🇽 ES-MX · 🇵🇹 PT · 🇺🇦 UK · 🇨🇿 CS · 🇸🇰 SK · 🇬🇷 EL · 🇭🇺 HU · 🇹🇷 TR · 🇳🇱 NL · 🇷🇴 RO · 🇧🇬 BG · 🇭🇷 HR · 🇷🇸 SR · 🇸🇮 SL · 🇱🇹 LT · 🇱🇻 LV · 🇪🇪 ET · 🇸🇪 SV · 🇩🇰 DA · 🇳🇴 NB · 🇫🇮 FI · 🇯🇵 JA · 🇰🇷 KO · 🇨🇳 ZH · 🇹🇼 ZH-TW · 🇮🇩 ID · 🇻🇳 VI · 🇹🇭 TH · 🇮🇳 HI · 🇸🇦 AR · 🇮🇱 HE

Formats

eBook · Print edition

Print format

Paperback, 15.2 × 22.9 cm, 360 pages

Age rating

Mature 17+