Dirty Work
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Product Description
Product Description
A topical, edgy, emotive and compelling story written in a powerful first-person voice!
Book Description
Hope’s mum doesn’t get her. In fact, Hope knows that as far as her preoccupied parents are concerned, she’s hopeless. She may be spoilt – but money doesn’t buy happiness. Oksana doesn’t even have a mum. And her dad and brother are miles away, left behind in Russia. She thought Europe would offer a better life – instead, bought and sold into prostitution, she feels dirty and used. Then Oksana and Hope are thrown together in the most terrifying circumstances imaginable. Their only real chance of escape lies with each other, but how do two teenagers with so little in common find the way . . . ? A tense, shocking novel – with a hint of hope.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Prostitution and sex trafficking may not appear to be appropriate subjects for Young Adult fiction, but when so many of the girls being tricked and sold into prostitution are under the age of 18, it's a subject that should resonate with teenage readers. For her willingness to tackle such a difficult subject matter, Julia Bell should be commended.
However ...
Whilst Bell does well in creating two distinct first person voices as she tells the story of Oksana (a Russian girl who's been sold into prostitution) and Hope (an English teenager who gets kidnapped by Oksana's coked-up trafficker), I felt that this is a book that very much pulls its punches. Oksana's voice is well-handled and Bell doesn't try to shield the reader from the horrors that have been perpetrated on her (including rape and other physical abuse) whilst at the same time never descending to gratuitous description. I liked the way in which Bell built up a credible picture of the Russia that Oksana's grown up with and in particular, its crushing economic deprivation. I was interested in her relationship with Adik, a boy who like her, dreams of a life in the West and who buys into the promises made by flash-car driving Tommy and I could believe in her attitude towards her brother Viktor and her widowered father.
By contrast, Bell is curiously protective of Hope, the spoilt, sometimes dense and most definitely whiny, English girl. I had big problems in buying into the reason why Zergei would kidnap her in the first place as it seemed more of a contrivance to bring her into the plot, but Bell makes it even more difficult to believe in by shielding her all the time. Given that we're shown the ruthlessness of the people responsible for trafficking these girls, I didn't understand why they were so reticient to either put Hope to "work" or to otherwise mistreat her. Bell seems to be suggesting that Hope's ethnicity makes the Turkish brothel owner reluctant to engage with her beyond a lame ransom claim towards the end of the book. Consequently, any tension that may exist when we see Hope being made to try on cheap lingerie or threatened is too hollow to be believed. I will also admit that the 'poor little rich girl' set up that Bell creates for Hope made it difficult for me to sympathise with her as her biggest complaints seemed to be that her dad worked too much and her mum was too interested in material possessions. When you contrast this with the genuine deprivations that Oksana has suffered, you do wish that Hope would suffer more of a reality check.
The ending to the book is very much a soft soap. The fact that there is a 'sympathetic' Turkish boy who wants no part of his uncle's gang operation stretches credibility too thinly and the build-up to the book's denouement rests on contrivance more than it does on character initiative. I questioned whether anyone in London living near a business identified as a "massage parlour" would really be ignorant as to what goes on inside and Bell's open-ending made me wonder if Hope had actually learnt anything from her experience or grown emotionally.
To be fair, I think that writing about this subject-matter is a difficult tightrope to navigate, particularly for a YA audience. However, the message I took away from it was that forced prostitution and sex trafficking only happens to girls from poor countries, which I found distasteful and incredibly misleading.
However ...
Whilst Bell does well in creating two distinct first person voices as she tells the story of Oksana (a Russian girl who's been sold into prostitution) and Hope (an English teenager who gets kidnapped by Oksana's coked-up trafficker), I felt that this is a book that very much pulls its punches. Oksana's voice is well-handled and Bell doesn't try to shield the reader from the horrors that have been perpetrated on her (including rape and other physical abuse) whilst at the same time never descending to gratuitous description. I liked the way in which Bell built up a credible picture of the Russia that Oksana's grown up with and in particular, its crushing economic deprivation. I was interested in her relationship with Adik, a boy who like her, dreams of a life in the West and who buys into the promises made by flash-car driving Tommy and I could believe in her attitude towards her brother Viktor and her widowered father.
By contrast, Bell is curiously protective of Hope, the spoilt, sometimes dense and most definitely whiny, English girl. I had big problems in buying into the reason why Zergei would kidnap her in the first place as it seemed more of a contrivance to bring her into the plot, but Bell makes it even more difficult to believe in by shielding her all the time. Given that we're shown the ruthlessness of the people responsible for trafficking these girls, I didn't understand why they were so reticient to either put Hope to "work" or to otherwise mistreat her. Bell seems to be suggesting that Hope's ethnicity makes the Turkish brothel owner reluctant to engage with her beyond a lame ransom claim towards the end of the book. Consequently, any tension that may exist when we see Hope being made to try on cheap lingerie or threatened is too hollow to be believed. I will also admit that the 'poor little rich girl' set up that Bell creates for Hope made it difficult for me to sympathise with her as her biggest complaints seemed to be that her dad worked too much and her mum was too interested in material possessions. When you contrast this with the genuine deprivations that Oksana has suffered, you do wish that Hope would suffer more of a reality check.
The ending to the book is very much a soft soap. The fact that there is a 'sympathetic' Turkish boy who wants no part of his uncle's gang operation stretches credibility too thinly and the build-up to the book's denouement rests on contrivance more than it does on character initiative. I questioned whether anyone in London living near a business identified as a "massage parlour" would really be ignorant as to what goes on inside and Bell's open-ending made me wonder if Hope had actually learnt anything from her experience or grown emotionally.
To be fair, I think that writing about this subject-matter is a difficult tightrope to navigate, particularly for a YA audience. However, the message I took away from it was that forced prostitution and sex trafficking only happens to girls from poor countries, which I found distasteful and incredibly misleading.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Teenager Hope runs into a young mysterious Oksana who has had a difficult past and is eager to get away from reality. These two girls are thrown together and now they must rely on each other to get away from the scary reality they find themselves trapped in.
This story focuses upon many interesting issues such as fear, control, power and society.
The story is also told from tow different girls, which brings the story to life in a shocking way.
Its very intriguing how the men in this story are very dominant and by stereotyping males as gangsters and sex driven people, Julia Bell is able to release the fear of the two girls through these male characters, making it a very tense but absorbing read.
Having these issues encoded in the book made me wonder if Bell has chosen to focus on current issues which are so regularly focused upon in the media today, such as underage sex, prostitution, robbery, drugs and killings.
Where as the story is quite short it is still strong to absorb the issues necessary.
However the characters aren't focused upon enough to feel a strong enough emotion. The writing at the beginning is a bit all over and jumpy and realism is also an issue in regards to the ending.
Its an interesting read regardless as it focuses strongly on everyday issues.
7/10
This story focuses upon many interesting issues such as fear, control, power and society.
The story is also told from tow different girls, which brings the story to life in a shocking way.
Its very intriguing how the men in this story are very dominant and by stereotyping males as gangsters and sex driven people, Julia Bell is able to release the fear of the two girls through these male characters, making it a very tense but absorbing read.
Having these issues encoded in the book made me wonder if Bell has chosen to focus on current issues which are so regularly focused upon in the media today, such as underage sex, prostitution, robbery, drugs and killings.
Where as the story is quite short it is still strong to absorb the issues necessary.
However the characters aren't focused upon enough to feel a strong enough emotion. The writing at the beginning is a bit all over and jumpy and realism is also an issue in regards to the ending.
Its an interesting read regardless as it focuses strongly on everyday issues.
7/10
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Published by the Young Picador imprint, this suggests itself as a book for teenagers and its theme (sex-slave trafficking) puts it into the category of an awful warning.
Hope is a spoiled, unreflective fifteen-year-old returning from a holiday in the family's French holiday home when she meets Oksana on the ferry. When she later discovers that Oksana has stowed away in their VW Camper van (her rich Dad has an ironic taste in vehicles), she wonders whether to tell her Mum, but in the excitement of having a secret friend, she keeps it to herself. Later she hides Oksana in her bedroom, and promises to help her get to Totten-ham, as Oksana calls it, where an old friend from Russia lives. Hope is persuaded to help her get there.
But Oksana hasn't told Hope the full story, and when she is captured by the man she escaped from on the ferry, Hope gets dragged along with her. They are kept in a filthy room in a windowless building on an industrial estate for most of the novel, and we get to know much more about Oksana's horrendous existence in Russia and Italy.
I found this novel both far-fetched and rather depressing. Its message is outlined in stark poster-paints, with an ending for all the world as if Nancy Drew waited round the corner. Characters and plot are fairly predictable and it has nothing to add to the "Isn't it terrible!" school of most daily newspapers.
Hope is a spoiled, unreflective fifteen-year-old returning from a holiday in the family's French holiday home when she meets Oksana on the ferry. When she later discovers that Oksana has stowed away in their VW Camper van (her rich Dad has an ironic taste in vehicles), she wonders whether to tell her Mum, but in the excitement of having a secret friend, she keeps it to herself. Later she hides Oksana in her bedroom, and promises to help her get to Totten-ham, as Oksana calls it, where an old friend from Russia lives. Hope is persuaded to help her get there.
But Oksana hasn't told Hope the full story, and when she is captured by the man she escaped from on the ferry, Hope gets dragged along with her. They are kept in a filthy room in a windowless building on an industrial estate for most of the novel, and we get to know much more about Oksana's horrendous existence in Russia and Italy.
I found this novel both far-fetched and rather depressing. Its message is outlined in stark poster-paints, with an ending for all the world as if Nancy Drew waited round the corner. Characters and plot are fairly predictable and it has nothing to add to the "Isn't it terrible!" school of most daily newspapers.
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