Eight Pieces on Prostitution

The stories in Eight Pieces on Prostitution span the whole of Dorothy Johnston's writing life and includes her first published story, The Man Who Liked to Come with the News, which Frank Moorhouse chose for his 1983 anthology, The State of the Art.

Dorothy Johnston's first novel, Tunnel Vision, was set in a Melbourne massage parlour, and the theme of prostitution runs through several of her works, notably in The House at Number 10 and now in this collection of short stories. Many of the stories are set in Canberra, Australia's national capital, where Dorothy lived for thirty years before returning to Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula.

The cover design is based on a painting by Bartolome Esteban Murillo called 'Two Women at a Window', which is held at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Though the women in the painting are probably prostitutes, it is not absolutely clear; there's an ambiguity about them, as well as an amused self-awareness. The author felt this image suits the stories in Eight Pieces on Prostitution very well.

"Dorothy Johnston lifts the veil on the hidden life of those who sell their bodies for money."

"These books were very well-written and reminded me a little of some short stories from turn of the century writers, such as Katherine Mansfield or Anais Nin. Unlike those stories, however, these stories generated a strong sense of distance between the subjects and the reader."

"Though the central theme is prostitution, it's not a gritty read, but it’s not Pretty Woman either. The jewel is Where the Ladders Start, a psychological mystery of three prostitutes with a dead client on their hands. Exceptionally well-written."