E-Book Overview
Belle de Jour is the nom de plume of a high-class call girl working in London.This is her story. From debating the literary merits of the works of Martin Amis with naked clients, entering a hotel with two whips strapped to the lining of her coat, and juggling her love-life with her professional one, Belle's no-holds-barred account of her experiences as a prostitute is frank, funny and completely compelling. Since the summer of 2003, Belle's award-winning website has charted her day-to-day adventures on and off the field. In it, she has confessed her triumphs and disasters in the world of dating, introduced readers to her friends N and 'the four As' and chronicled the ins and outs of her working life. Now she elaborates on those diary entries, revealing how she became a working girl, what it feels like to do it for money - and why she can recommend it - and where to buy the best knickers for the job. Sometimes shocking, often hilarious, always thought-provoking, the 'Intimate Adventures' is the story of a 21st-century Moll Flanders, giving us an illuminating glimpse behind the scenes of the high-class sex-trade, and an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary, ordinary woman.
E-Book Content
First published in Great Britain in 2.005 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 © 1005 Bizrealm Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and t he above publisher. The right of Belle de Jour to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN o 297 84781 1 (hardback) ISBN o 297 84850 x (trade paperback) Typeset at The Spartan Press Ltd, Lymington, Hants Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives pic Weidenfeld & Nicolson An imprint of the Orion Publishing Group Orion House, 5 Upper St Martin's Lane, London WCIH 9.EA www.orionbooks.co.uk
Dedicated to F and N.
This book would not have been possible without the support and patience of Patrick Walsh and Helen Garnons‐Williams, and their staff and associates, to whom are owed many thanks.
The first thing you should know is that I'm a whore. I don't mean that in a glib way. I'm not using the word as an analogy for working a desk job or toiling away in new media. Many of my friends will tell you how temping for a year or ending up in sales is equivalent to prostitution. It's not. I know this because I've been a temp and I've fucked for money, and they are in no way similar. Not even the same planet. Different solar systems altogether. The second thing is that I live in London. These two facts may or may not be related. It's not a cheap city. Like almost all of my friends, I moved here after university with the hope of getting a job. If not a well‐paying one, at least something interesting, or populated exclusively by handsome, eligible men. But such positions are thin on the ground. Almost everyone is studying to be an accountant now, including my friends A2 and A3, who are respected in their academic circles. Good god ‐ a fate worse than death. Accountancy trumps even academia in the unsexiness stake