ماريا لوسيفا

Author's name: Alexander Amphiteatrof Publisher: Tanmia Library for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2025 Literary classification: Novel Book overview: Saint Petersburg has always been a beacon of culture, the homeland of nobles, and the cradle of arts. But behind this elegant façade, major secret institutions have hidden, which history tried to erase their existence. The story begins at the police station, when an educated girl from the cultured class arrives demanding a yellow prostitution card. This bold and unusual request attracts attention to her, to tell her long story of prostitution in upscale houses in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, moving from houses and palaces to socialist brothels and even between remote provinces. It is a documentary novel from the early twentieth century, in which Alexander Amphiteatrof skillfully reveals the mask of social respectability to show us the hidden face of life in Imperial Russia. From real newspaper news and police stories, the author weaves a picture of the world of prostitution among the nobles, starting from the recruitment of girls to the hierarchical arrangement within these institutions, their tricks, and their influence.