Memoirs of a French Courtesan Volume 2: Spectacle

“It would be easier for me to defend the city of Mogador than my dance partner!” Brididi said, pulling me away by my arm. “Wait,” he said loudly, “I’ll call you Mogador!”

What happened is silly but true, and it wasn’t so long ago, yet people don’t remember it. A hundred voices shouted Long live Mogador! They threw dozens of flowers into the circle where I was dancing.

In this new English translation, Memoirs of a French Courtesan Volume 2: Spectacle follows Céleste Mogador through young adulthood as she makes her own way in the Parisian demimonde alongside friends, lovers, and bitter enemies. As a young woman, Céleste learns to dance at the local balls and earns her sobriquet, Mogador. Her rivalry with another dancer graces the gossip pages, garnering her a fandom that carries her to even greater fame as a trick rider in the new Hippodrome.

But tragedy and death still cling to Céleste, and her affections are taken up and betrayed time and again. Not to mention that she’s still on the rolls as a courtesan, which limits her freedom. She emerges through it all with a new love and a new future on the horizon—though like all that shimmers, it might be too good to be true.