The Honey Well

When Esther coerced her teenage daughter, Arnell, into sleeping with the landlord to keep a roof over their heads after her husband's death, her life as a madame began. As business prospered, Esther purchased the 16-room mansion her mother worked in as a housekeeper. The men call the residence the Honey Well, and rooms are rented to tenants affectionately referred to as ladies of charm. Esther promised Arnell that once she completed college she could stop performing favors. Yet she continues to make demands, and Arnell can never seem to say no to her requests. When Arnell becomes engaged to the son of a prominent minister, her struggle to break free of her mother becomes even more intense. Esther uses their secrets to blackmail her daughter into staying in the business, but she is soon forced to accept responsibility for her unsavory actions. The relationship between mother and daughter, as they struggle to balance love and hate, and the intertwining of sex and money make Mallette's tale both entertaining and unsettling.--- Lillian Lewis, Booklist