Rachael: Woman of the Night

Offering a firsthand look at the sex trade in South Africa, these memoirs tell the story of Margaret (a.k.a. “Rachel”), who becomes a prostitute at 38 in order to lift her family from poverty. She endures long, bruising nights and abusive men but finds solace in laughter and peanut-butter sandwiches with “the girls.” This sobering tale is told with a wicked wit and remarkable depth that gives readers a rare glimpse into a world that is often treated with scorn and misunderstanding by society. In Margaret’s long road through life, escorting is but one in a series of ups and downs-including abusive husbands, addiction, bereavement, a traumatic stay in a psychiatric ward and, worst of all, having her family torn apart by a faceless bureaucracy. But Margaret’s story is tempered by a real compassion for women who, like herself, are forced to sell themselves to keep body and soul together.