A very needed entry into the world of literature, where sex work is respected as a job, and the people who do it are portrayed in all the dizzying complexities that other groups are allowed … There is a lot of joy in this novel.
In pondering what to write about All Hookers Go To Heaven by Angel B.H., I kept coming back to the idea of joy. This is not a book about a topic which routinely deals with joy — sex work — but it is a very needed entry into the world of literature, where sex work is respected as a job, and the people who do it are portrayed in all the dizzying complexities that other groups are allowed. And despite the grimness that arises from the danger of sex work, there is a lot of joy in this novel. It’s funny, and fascinating, and an ultimately heartwarming book, about found family, forging your own path, and discovering yourself.
Magdalena is raised in an Evangelical Christian home in the Annapolis Valley, longing to get out of her small town someday, somehow. Obsessed with heaven and her purity, she adheres to the strictures of her religion until a fateful summer at a religious camp/scheme, designed to turn young people into Evangelical missionaries. Mag falls for Anouk, another girl at camp, and after a fateful kiss, followed by a shattering of her crush, yanks Mag away from her faith. Without the purpose that drove her for years, Mag ends up in Montreal, despondent and no longer interested in her college classes. What she does eventually find, however, is the world of sex work, moving from dancing in a strip club to working as a sugar baby. Now driven by the search for stability and financial freedom, Mag flits around the world, in search of stronger, more lucrative streams of hooking income, moving further and further away from who she thought she was.
Mag is a funny, sharp, awkward oddball. She’s fairly successful as a sex worker, despite often feeling uncomfortable in her own skin in the beginning, naïve and trusting when she shouldn’t, and often very lucky. The work ranges from fun to dangerous, and can be graphic. But what is so successful is the joy Mag carries with her; even at her lowest points, there’s hope and plans to make it better, no matter the self-destructive bent she may be on or the vulnerability of her position. She also enjoys the lifestyle she’s created, and learns how to advocate for herself, as well as when to walk away. It’s a heartening coming-of-age, as messy and complicated as Mag can be. All Hookers Go To Heaven also explores queer sexuality and sex work, looking at how Mag explores her sexuality while primarily sleeping with men for money, and the way her upbringing influences her choices about sex.
I really enjoyed this novel. It was fun and thoughtful, a really well-rounded character story, with a challenging narrator. It’s a complicated mess, but an interesting mess, and one absolutely worthy of your fall reading.
Angel B.H. grew up in Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. Her second birth was in a punk-lesbian bar in Montreal. She currently resides in Europe. She enjoys writing about sex work, Evangelical Christianity, and hopelessly complex friendships between women.
Publisher: Invisible Publishing (September 3, 2024)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 288 pages
ISBN: 9781778430527
Alison Manley has ricocheted between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for most of her life. Now in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she is the Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian at Saint Mary's University. Her past life includes a long stint as a hospital librarian on the banks of the mighty Miramichi River. She has an honours BA in political science and English from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University. While she's adamant that her love of reading has nothing to do with her work, her ability to consume large amounts of information very quickly sure is helpful. She is often identified by her very red lipstick, and lives with her partner Brett and cat, Toasted Marshmallow.
- Alison Manleyhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alison-manley/
- Alison Manleyhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alison-manley/
- Alison Manleyhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alison-manley/
- Alison Manleyhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alison-manley/
- Alison Manleyhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alison-manley/
- Alison Manleyhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alison-manley/
