Victoria Mundell / Edge columnist
Dirty work presents a promising storyline that disappoints with its follow through. Julia Bell, author of Dirty work, draws in audiences with a captivating narrative about two underage girls struggling to make it through the horrors of sexual slavery; unfortunately, the book is overfilled with backstory and lacks a fulfilling plot.
Dirty work follows the story of Hope Tasker, a privileged 15-year-old British girl dealing with ordinary friend and family troubles, and Oksana Droski, an impoverished 15-year-old Russian girl who has been struggling to get by her whole life. These girls come together in unfortunate circumstances after a failed escape attempt by Oksana, leading to Hope’s imprisonment. The girls are forced to come together despite their polarizing views for their only chance at survival.
This key point is one of the areas the book falls short. The relationship between the two girls should be the basis of the story, except, instead it is neglected and replaced by endless amounts of backstory on the girls, specifically Oksana. To a certain extent the information on Oksana is necessary, and rather than cutting important details about the character, the story could have benefitted from being longer.
With the pages being overcrowded by Oksana’s past, there was also little room for the main plot of the story. Few chapters were dedicated to Hope and Oksana’s present life at the brothel they were kept in, and it was as if two separate stories were written into the same book. This made it difficult to engage with the main plot as every chapter it would switch back to Oksana’s previous life.
The book wasn’t entirely dissatisfying however, as the way the story was presented made for an interesting read. The book shifted between both Oksana and Hope’s point of view during the different events that occurred, and because of their opposing perspectives in life, this created a prominent contrast in their reactions. Hope’s naivety and fear compared to Oksana’s hardened exterior left room for reflection on the characters states and circumstances. Hope’s point of view was especially grabbing as she was a child whose life was currently turning into a nightmare many women fear becoming their reality.
While Dirty work did have its positives and was enjoyable to read, the stories unmet promises, poor character development, and weak plot overshadowed what could have been a gripping story on the harsh realities of child prostitution.
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