The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman

The Fair Fight

Anna Freeman

Set in the filthy backstreets and bawdy houses of Georgian England, this rough and earthy historical romp is the antithesis of the world of Jane Austen’s genteel heroines. Be willing to get down and dirty among the feisty women and likely lads working as bare-knuckled street fighters, in a desperate game of survival, with few winners.

Extract
The interior of the boxing tent was thick with people. Granville kept a tight hold on me and together we followed my brother and Mr. Bowden as they pushed us a path through the crowd. At length I was able to see the stage, on which there was a square of ropes, strung upon poles. We had not long to wait before two figures ascended there and faced each other with fists raised. This I had expected; that one of them might be a lady boxer, I had never in my life imagined. She made an indecent figure; her flannel petticoats had been pinned up and above her boots she was wholly naked to the knee. Her stays had been loosened. I could not stop staring at her. Her assailant was a great brute of a man; surely, surely, they could not really be meant to fight?
Parallels
  • Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
  • Sedition by Katherine Grant
  • The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
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Violence
Explicit sexual content