Red Light Wives

By Mary Monroe

Book Overview

RED LIGHT WIVES They're about as different as six women can be-haughty and humble, beautiful and plain, young and not-so-young, black, white, Latina, and origins unknown. But aside from their gift for laughing hardship in the face, these high-spirited women have one very important thing in common-Clyde Brooks. You might say that Clyde is their "manager." And you might say that Lula Mae, Ester, Megan, Rosalee, Helen, and Rockelle are colleagues-in the world's oldest profession. Clyde likes to refer to them as his wives. After all, they do what wives are expected to do-take care of him, not to mention his young daughter, Keisha. Clyde will sacrifice anything to provide for Keisha-and he expects the fearless, funny, proud, big-hearted women he employs to do the same. Maybe it's their indomitable love for the high life-and for each other-that makes the bond between Clyde's ladies so unbreakable. Maybe it's their private demons that invite him to act as their savior and tyrant, father, brother, and lover. And maybe it's middle-class Helen's na ve vulnerability, privileged Megan's shocking secret, strong, smart Lula Mae's maternal nature, and wild-child Ester's anger at the rest of the world that keep them so loyal-or so Clyde thinks. For hard as they try to escape their reality with money and parties, nothing can quell the women's longing for a life free from Clyde and the hundreds of other men they must entertain-until one daring act of defiance changes everything... Edgy, honest, and always entertaining, here is a tale of six captivating women willing to face the worst life has to offer-and still hang on to hope for the very best. Sexy and sassy, these Red Light Wives are sure to grab your attention-and become your heroes-from the very first page.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0758200021
• ISBN13: 9780758200020
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Superb must read

5/🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Mary ate and left no crumbs on this novel. You will laugh out loud with tears! This novel stir up all kinds of emotions; scary, sad, uncomfortable, emotional, shocked. I have read many of her books and this is by far her best one yet

Never disappointing for me

I have read all of Mary Monroe's books and I loved every one of them. Her characters although sometimes off the chain are completely believable to me, and everytime I read her books..I always feel like I'm right smack dabbed in the middle of them. This one was no different and hard to put down.

Good story , how it really ends

Again Ms. Monroe has taken reality and added bits of her seasoning to it and brought it to a simmer and served it out to the pubic to read. I for one am very pleased with this work because I like the ending because I find it to be realistic , I founds many parts to be humourous , and parts to be sad and so darn realistic. I have read most of her books and althought the character in the "Upper Room" stands out more in my mind I am quite statistfied with this novel and do not regret a dime of my money spent on it. The only question I have is when is her next novel coming out?

Spectacular!!!!!!!!!

I truly enjoyed this book about different women ,their lives and their circumstances that put them in their current "job positions". Mary Monroe is a very talented author who keeps the reader enticed with words. This story made me laugh,cry and get angry. I went through the whole gammut of emotions. This story shows how anyone could end up being a Red Light Wife.

Mary Monroe Does It Again!!

I've read all of Mary Monroe's books and will continue if her writing stays as consistent as she has shown in Red Light Wives. Ms. Monroe writes in a unique style that I can't really describe but that you know when you read her books. It's something in the words she uses to describe her characters and their thoughts that makes you feel she writes things that people think but wouldn't dare say. I liked reading each chapter from the female's point of view that the chapter was titled. My favorite character hands down was Helen Daniels. I laughed out loud at some of the stuff she said and thought about Rocky. She was sharper than a lot of the other characters gave her credit for. True Mary Monroe fans will appreciate this effort while new fans will want to go back and read her other works. I have to admit that God Don't Like Ugly is still my favorite but this book also did a good job with character development. As always when I finish her books much too quickly because I can't put them down, I'm ready for another book from this author!

Married to the Moll

Working girl. Escort. Hooker. Prostitute. Call Girl. Pro. These are all words commonly used to describe women in the oldest profession in the world. However, Clyde Brooks calls his girls wives, and you'll never hear him calling himself a pimp. The six women prominently featured in Mary Monroe's latest novel, RED LIGHT WIVES, all fall into Clyde's profession in one way or another, be it lineage, circumstance, chance, or loyalty. Ester has known Clyde for much of her life. When she was a baby, Clyde found her lying in a dumpster, left for dead. Over a decade later Ester and Clyde reunite and she becomes his first wife. But being without a family or lineage has left Ester confused about her heritage and even more confused about her purpose. Rosalee has been haunted most of her adult life by a supposed curse that virtually wiped out her family. Upon her mother's insistence, Rosalee, her new husband, and her mother fled to escape the curse that Rosalee's mother believes in wholeheartedly. However, Rosalee's mother is rarely satisfied, and she demands that they move yet again. Rosalee's husband refuses to move and she leaves him behind and becomes a new type of wife to Clyde Brooks and a puppet to her mother. Lula Mae seems to have a dark cloud following her in life. After witnessing her mother's loose ways and later suffering abuse from her stepmother, Lula Mae takes up with the wrong man and finds herself in a tragic situation. Her solution is to flee her problems and make a new life in a new town. But tragedy strikes yet again for Lula Mae, and she finds she must survive by any means necessary. Rockelle's husband left her and her three children without so much as a Dear Jane letter. Feeling the need to keep up with the Joneses, Rockelle enlists her body as her moneymaker and soon finds herself married to the moll. Mary Monroe staggeringly brought the four previously mentioned women, two others, and their manager, Clyde, to a luminous life. Monroe did not glamorize the profession, nor did she bash it. Rather, she made certain that she illustrated the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a working girl. Each character holds their voice in the story, and are never left behind or forgotten. She simplifies the sometimes-daunting task of not only introducing a large amount of protagonists, but also following them all through to the very end. RED LIGHT WIVES is a dazzling work by a masterly maven of fiction. Reviewed by CandaceK of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers