The Palace of Lost Virtue
Anthea Hodgson
Don’t miss Anthea who will be in conversation with local author AJ Lyndon talking about Anthea’s new book at BMI on Wednesday 17 June at 6pm
Marigold is a devout Christian working with her mother to save the local women from a life dedicated to sex work. Pansy is one of those sex workers and the owner of Pansy Arlington’s Palace of Pleasure. When the women’s paths cross, what ensues is an extraordinary friendship, a shocking murder trial and a history that gives voice to the lives of the remarkable women who lived and died in the goldfields.
Set in Kalgoorlie between 1898 and 1926, this intimate story of female friendship is drawn from Western Australia’s dark past and real history. Inspired by the real-life murders of policemen Alexander Pitman and John Walsh, this novel threads a brutal act of violence through its narrative. As the investigation unfolds, questions of guilt, justice and truth become increasingly blurred.
The character of Pansy Arlington and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union are also based on real people and movements from the Kalgoorlie area. For around 90 years, Kalgoorlie employed a system called “containment” whereby prostitution was illegal, but brothels could operate if they abided by specific rules. The hidden history of women living on the margins and in the “containment” system exposes the hypocrisy and control embedded in society’s treatment of so-called “fallen” women. In The Palace of Lost Virtue, Anthea challenges the rigid ideas of good and bad women.
Our library stands on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work, learn and create. Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land.
