I've listened to this one, but my memory's so bad I honestly don't remember anything about the sculptor. The prostitute thing, yes. That may have been from the TV adaptation rather than the audiobook, tho. And it was disturbing.
Yeah, I have a sneaking suspicion that half of what I remember of book one I'm actually recalling from the TV show. XD The disturbing childlike lesbian prostitute is in the next book too, so that's something to look forward to. :/
While that first bit with the sculpture got a personal 'ink' from me, from what little I remember, it didn't come across as assault-ish to me because Greenwood created Phryne in such a way that nothing would happen she didn't allow, and she's so sexually optimistic, I wasn't sure who was using whom.
The prostitute thing ... after reading interviews with Greenwood, I have the distinct impression that she put a lot of the darker historical realities of Melbourne in the early 1900's to her creative use in these books. It squicked me out, but she uses these darker edges throughout the books, and juxtapositions them with the light and frothy bits; it feels very purposeful, as though she's trying to make those dark points of history feel even more feral. It doesn't always work; sometimes it's too in your face obvious to be effective. Sometimes it was beyond creepy.
I get what you're saying about Phryne's sexual optimism, but that only excuses her actions, not his. He ambushed her, and for a moment she couldn't decide whether she was outraged or aroused. It just annoys me that him taking liberties is laughed off as "LOL artists!"
The darker stuff absolutely feels tossed in for shock value, with varying degrees of success. The prostitute one in particular feels like it was thrown in so haphazardly that it's more bizarre than shocking. It's like Greenwood found out that prisoners could bribe prison guards to let prostitutes in so they could have death row orgies, and it was too good to pass up so she scrambled for a way to shoehorn it into the story. But how to accommodate a character who's a pedophile without making Phryne look like a monster? I know! A pubescent-looking lesbian who boinks pedos to fuel her hatred of men! Or something. I don't mind a bit of edge, so I'm praying she got better at these juxtapositions as the series progressed. XD
The prostitute thing ... after reading interviews with Greenwood, I have the distinct impression that she put a lot of the darker historical realities of Melbourne in the early 1900's to her creative use in these books. It squicked me out, but she uses these darker edges throughout the books, and juxtapositions them with the light and frothy bits; it feels very purposeful, as though she's trying to make those dark points of history feel even more feral. It doesn't always work; sometimes it's too in your face obvious to be effective. Sometimes it was beyond creepy.
The darker stuff absolutely feels tossed in for shock value, with varying degrees of success. The prostitute one in particular feels like it was thrown in so haphazardly that it's more bizarre than shocking. It's like Greenwood found out that prisoners could bribe prison guards to let prostitutes in so they could have death row orgies, and it was too good to pass up so she scrambled for a way to shoehorn it into the story. But how to accommodate a character who's a pedophile without making Phryne look like a monster? I know! A pubescent-looking lesbian who boinks pedos to fuel her hatred of men! Or something. I don't mind a bit of edge, so I'm praying she got better at these juxtapositions as the series progressed. XD