Party girl

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

79382

Title

Party girl

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A searing novel of urban decay, this story follows Laura Haynes, a Kansas girl who sells her body to survive in New York's underworld. After being exploited by predatory agents and pimps, she finds fleeting happiness with Dan before tragedy strikes. Ultimately, Laura turns her life around by destroying the criminal syndicate that enslaved her, offering a raw look at redemption amidst shattered lives.

Summary up to 500 words

In Robert Silverberg's *Party Girl*, the narrative follows Laura Haynes, a young woman from Kansas who arrives in New York City with dreams of a legitimate show business career. Her aspirations are immediately crushed when theatrical agent Ned McCarten exploits her innocence, forcing her to undress and perform before accepting her as talent. Rejected by other agents for lacking professional polish, Laura is forced into the city's underworld, becoming a high-priced call girl for the Syndicate run by the ruthless Phil Spinelli. Amidst this descent, Laura finds genuine love with Dan Bittner, an innocent man who wishes to marry her and offer her respectability. However, the scandal of her reputation ruins their future; Dan commits suicide after seeing her exposed in the press, leaving Laura devastated and guilt-ridden. Meanwhile, wealthy Robert McDermott proposes that she become his mistress and eventual second wife, offering a path out of crime. Yet, a police raid on McDermott's suite exposes Laura as a prostitute, shattering her remaining illusions of decency and confirming her status in the eyes of society. Overwhelmed by the realization that she has betrayed Dan and sold her soul, Laura decides to end the life of crime within her apartment. She retrieves a .22 caliber gun Spinelli had given her for protection. Instead of suicide, which she views as a coward's way out, she resolves to atone for her sins by destroying the 'worms' who led women into sin. Laura returns to Spinelli's headquarters and confronts him in his lavish apartment. She shoots and kills his bodyguard, Skalkottis; agent McCarten; and finally Phil Spinelli himself. After calling the police to report the murders, Laura feels a profound sense of purity restored. Although she faces the possibility of execution for her actions, she believes she has bought back her soul and cleaned the world of its corruptors, finding a twisted redemption in her violent act of justice.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Local file path

data/epubs/pg79382.epub

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Categories

• Fiction
• Erotica