Dirty Work

by Julia Bell

Hope has everything that money can buy... except happiness. She may be spoilt but Hope's sure that as far as her preoccupied parents are concerned, she's hopeless. Oksana doesn't even have a mum. And her dad and brother are miles away, left behind in Russia. She thought Europe would offer a better life - instead, bought and sold into prostitution, she feels dirty and used. Then Oksana and Hope are thrown together in the most terrifying circumstances imaginable. Their only real chance of escape lies with each other, but how do two teenagers with so little in common find the way...?A tense, shocking novel - with a hint of hope.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Teen

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2007

About the author

Librarian note: there are multiple authors with this name on Goodreads.

I was born in Bristol but raised in Wales (I can speak Welsh!) and have published two novels for young adults - Massive and Dirty Work, both published by Macmillan in the UK. In the US Massive is published by Simon and Schuster and Dirty Work by Walker Books. Massive has also been translated into ten languages, including Thai! I also wrote and co-edited the bestselling Creative Writing Coursebook while I was working at the University of East Anglia, which is also published by Macmillan.

I am a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, University College of London where I teach on the MA Creative Writing and co-ordinate the annual publication The Mechanics' Institute Review and the new web portal The Birkbeck Writers' Hub.

I am currently working on my fourth novel - Bad Faith - and collaborating on work for the screen.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only half of this book felt truly compelling to me: Oksana's story, that of a Russian girl who leaps at the opportunity to exchange life in her impoverished village for a glamorous life working as a waitress in London. Unfortunately, her benefactors aren't helping her out of the goodness of their hearts, and in fact sell her into prostitution. This was a heart wrenching story, especially as Oksana's chapters would alternate between the horrors of life as a forced prostitute and the desolation of her previous life in Russia. Bit by bit her complex story unfolds in such a way that we definitely understand that neither existence was good for her, but without giving so many gory details as to make this inappropriate for a general young adult audience.

The other half of the book is told by Hope, a spoiled, rich English girl who believes her parents are ridiculously uncool and unfair because they expect her to go on family vacations and eat dinner at the table. When Oksana briefly escapes her current captor, she and Hope cross paths, and Hope tries to help her, without understanding what Oksana is trying to escape. When Oksana and Hope are captured by Oksana's "owner," the book begins a nose-dive into After School Special territory. It feels like the author didn't think her audience could empathize with the story without an observer who closely resembled their own relatively privileged lives.

I would have loved to see a story focusing entirely on Oksana and other young women like her. The author then could have focused on showing us this horrible existence, rather than shoe-horning in trite platitudes from Hope's point of view (for example, when Hope finally realizes that Oksana is a prostitute, she makes a point of noting that prostitutes are supposed to be adults and wear make up and sexy clothes and "want it" - a common misconception, and one that needs to be addressed more often, but there have to be more elegant ways of presenting it).

[Nikkita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! It was gut wrenching till the end. It makes you think about all the people who dont end up having a voice. I have recommended this book to many people now! I loved how strong the main character is. Great book!

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is told in alternate chapters between Oksana (a 15 yr old girl) who has been ‘renamed’ Natasha by her captors – and 15 yr old Hope, a rich girl who has been caught up in a child prostitution group when trying to help Oksana.

Oksana’s story shows how she became a captive and has been held for two years, whilst Hope’s story shows her fear and disbelief at what has just happened to her. Gripping and heart breaking at the same time.

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 or 2 stars. I read this for my school book review. However the actual concept of the book was like interesting to see the reality of the different worlds however I felt I was waiting the entire book for smth that was completely rushed into 2 short chapters whereas there were many unnecessary details put into long chapters. I feel like she could've stalled the escape and made the entire conclusion longer bc I was left w s o many unanswered questions bc it was a shorter book compare to the normal so

[Marissa Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommend! This book really shows the harsh reality of life. Dirty work by Julia Bell shows the lives of two young girls. One, was struggling financially and lost everything she ever loved. The other girl was rich and had her family, she was just sick of her life and she wanted to be free.
Both 15, these girls were kidnapped and sold together. They were tricked and turned into “toys”. The story really pulled me in. It really shows the lengths people would go for money.

[Anna Hardesty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was there a point? Did I miss it? Tell me I missed it.

[Brenda Gonzalez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still don’t know how I feel about this book the story was good but I still had a hard time getting invested in the story.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shows how easily children can be trafficked while not being graphic. I do feel that the story should have continued past the end point to give a good closure to the story

[Jenna Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read that breaks your heart, knowing this type of thing happens every day in our miserable world. The ending leaves you wondering.

[Gordon Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first picked up this book in the public library when I saw it's cover, with a red light bulb with the title of the book - Dirty Work, written on it, I thought that the cover was interesting and so I borrowed the book and read it. The story did not disappoint me, overall, I think it was touching, very touching. Just like the quote from Kevin brooks on the cover of the book, "Shocking and blunt, touching and true. As real as it gets.".

Oksana is a girl from russia, she had a warm family to live and stay in when she was younger, but then she was tricked and became a prostitute and a sex slave. I think the story of Oksana is the most touching part in the story. Her life was sad, too sad to be imagined. She, herself even think that her life was too sad and terrible that she made another name for her past life, Natasha, as it wrote in the book "Natasha is a nightmare, a bad dream of a life. Oksana is my real name.".

The story was touching because it was very real. Before I read this book, I had watch news articles and reports about children being sold as sex slaves and prostitute. Those news are very disturbing, but because of that, I always read or watch them, and after each time I read or watched the article or the report, I feel very sad and disturbing because it is very hard to imagine that things as terrible and disturbing as those thing are actually happening in the real world, just near us. It reminds me about those terrible news articles and facts when I read to the part about Oksana in the novel, since the author made it very realistic and touching.

The story of Oksana reminds me the dark side of the world that people were sold as sex slaves and prostitute, it is not only disturbing that I know that these things had happened in the real world, but that those are only a small part of those cases, and much more cases like these one are still happening all over the world, especially in places that are poor.

Overall, this is a very realistic and touching book, I highly recommend this book to those who had not already know about these terrible things happening in the world.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story aimed at young people and hi-lights the existence of sex slavery. It’s harrowing at times, but I think rather a valuable book for all teenagers to read, if only to open their eyes to the lives others live.

The two protagonists are Oksana, a Russian girl conned into sex slavery with the promise of a job in the West, and Hope, a rich English girl.

Oksana is in some ways a very mature 13 year old, carrying the responsibility of rearing her little brother and feeding her family with very little in a post fall Russia when she is sold into slavery. Watching her being deceived and the hope with which she agrees to what leads to her terrible situation is heartbreaking. She is by far, in my opinion, the more believable character.

Hope is a spoilt little brat with very little idea of anything outside of her rich, privileged existence. The closest she has come to any kind of real life is being friends with scholarship girls at her exclusive school.

The two girls are flung into a life together which Oksana has had to endure for some years and which Hope finds incomprehensible. The relationship between the two of them is not very well articulated, and unfortunately, Oksana seems to be reduced to merely a reaction to Hope. It is a pity that the rich British girl is treated differently and even spoken of as ‘not being like’ the other girls. This is a pity as the point which could have been made so much better than it was, was the fact that no 15 year old should be in that position, regardless of place or position of origin.

I do think though, that this is valuable book for any teenager to read. Those of us with need to start realising what those of us without go through to survive.

Consider this book for your teenager to read.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read the blurb on the back of this book, I knew I had to read it. The subject matter was very intriguing, especially since a lot of it is based on events happening to many Eastern European girls this minute. This book goes back and forth between Hope and Oksana's point of view. Hope is a privileged English girl taking a trip to her family's home in south France. Oksana is a disadvantaged Russian girl who was tricked into prostitution with the promise of having a better life in America. While on the same ferry, Oksana breaks free from her pimp and hides in the back of Hope's van, hoping to make it to England and reunite with her best friend Adik. Hope finds the girl and tries to help her without her parents finding out, but soon both girls are caught by the thugs trying to sell Oksana to another group of men in a different country. Hope is now away from her cushy life and thrown into a world of hopelessness and terror, and she sees what it's been like for Oksana for the past year.
Out of the two girls, Oksana's story touched me in a way that most teenage fictional characters' couldn't. Bell wrote out a sympathetic portrait of what it is like to live in a poor area of Russia. She also brought the issue of teenage prostitution in Europe to light, something we don't hear about in the states that often. The book was well-written but a little on the short side. I think the plot and characters could have been developed a tad bit further. But all in all, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for anyone interested in the depressing subject of child trafficking.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hope is unhappy. She lives in a big, beautiful house, and has everything she’s ever wanted, but her mother treats her like yet another accessory, and her father is never around. Oksana would give anything for a mother who treated her like an accessory, or any mother at all. But her mother died years ago, and with her died any hope her family had. When she was offered the chance of a lifetime—a job in Europe, the chance to send money to her father and brother at home, and get out of her miserable Russian village—she jumped at the chance. She never expected her promised job to turn into a nightmare—prostitution.

Hope and Oksana could not be more different, but they are both trapped in the same nightmare. Can they work together to find a way out? Or are the barriers that separate them too far to be breached?

This is an eye-opening book. It casts a shocking and harshly honest light on illegal trafficking of women in a way that will sear into your mind and never let you think of illegal prostitution the same ever again. Unfortunately, there’s not much else going on in here. There’s very little character development, and even what little plot there is feels like a device to tell us the Message about illegal trafficking of women.

[Devansh Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a book for young adults, theme of Dirty Work is definitely darker, grittier and with a stronger base in reality than other popular novels of these genre. Dirty Work can surely serve as an eye-opener for teenagers living in the cushy comfort of their homes in a developed world, with a "hope" for a great future and still feeling hopeless, when their lives will be suddenly contrasted with Oksana's innocent struggles to get a decent life.

Dirty Work follows Oksana, a young Russian girl, who is caught up in a prostitution ring and wants to be saved and whose life crosses with Hope. Hope, who has an instinct of saving, tries to help Oksana and herself gets caught up in the flesh trade. One of the interesting things about the book is that everything is told from the perspective of the two girls. Hence, instead of a blatant description of the harsh situations, they are presented as the girls see them and hence their effect is considerably mellowed due to the innocence and naivete in their character which also helps the genre. Nevertheless, the elements are there and some of them are disturbing even for a mature reader.

Good read that upholds hope for books in the young adult genre!

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com

Hope never thinks anything interesting will happen in her life. She seems to be on the fast track to nowhere, and her parents despair of ever understanding her.

She is jolted out of her quiet and idyllic life when she encounters Oksana, a Russian girl who has been sold as a sex slave. Hope's tentative friendship with Oksana leads to her own kidnapping by the owner Oksana is running from. These girls have only each other, and they will have to overcome their bitterness and prejudice and work together to escape from their captors.

But will it be too late?

DIRTY WORK is a riveting and captivating read. The pages go by quickly, and Ms. Bell keenly builds suspense throughout the entire book by interspersing flashbacks of Oksana's past in between telling the two girls' predicament. Without being inappropriate or too mature for teens, DIRTY WORK easily conveys the horrors of human trafficking and how very easy it is to get caught up in it.

This terrifying, entrancing novel will certainly grab your attention, and won't let go until long after the book is finished.

[Jessi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is ok. It is about the sick fact that slavery and sex slaves are still out there. Girls (and boys) are tricked, cajoled or stolen and sold into slavery. It is a bad, sad thing and I don't know what I can do that would make a difference.

Hope was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Zergei has lost one of the girls his boss bought and he kidnaps Hope to replace her. Natasha (Oksana) has been a sex slave for a year already. She is lost and desperate, but still has a good heart. She helps Hope as much as she can.

The book moves along quickly--sometimes too much so, so that I am looking back, trying to figure out when the scene changed or when a new character came into the room. The story is realistic in some ways, except for where Hope comes in--SPOILER ALERT--several days in the hands of nasty thugs that deal in sex slaves and she comes out unmolested. I didn't feel that the ending was very satisfying or realistic.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hope is an English girl whose parents always seem to be too busy for her, even though she has every material thing she wants. Oksana comes from a completely different world, a small town in Russia with no economic hope at all. To escape this hopeless town, Oksana leaves with a man who had offered "work" to her friend Adik. However, things are not as Oksana was told. Sold into prostitution, Oksana hides behind the name Natasha and holds on to the dream of reuniting with her friend in London. Now her path has crossed Hope's on a ferry boat from France to England, and both girls are kidnapped and Hope finds an underworld she never knew existed and Oksana is all too familiar with. Both girls must believe in each other if they are to escape . . .

[Dara · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the back of Julia Bell’s Dirty Work, one reviewer describes it as “Gritty…pitch-perfect…provocative.” For me, it wasn’t really enough of any of these things. The premise of the novel (told from the POV of two girls kidnapped and sold into prostitution in Europe) is gritty and provocative, but the story itself seemed rather tame to me. It’s a short and easy read, but I didn’t get very invested in the characters. Overall, I felt they were missing a sense of growth and development, and there were several interesting angles that were only superficially explored.

It was an intriguing and saddening topic, but not quite pitch-perfect for me.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

when i read this book, i fell in love with it. it may not be the kind of book filled with unicorns and rainbows, but it certainly does open your eyes to reality and the kind of things that humanity is capable of like trafficking young girls and the fact that this could happen to anyone. it made me extremely sad to read about each girl's stories in their own perspective and what they left when they were brought into that dirty business and what they each had to suffer, especially Oksana-one of the characters. Still, even with the difficult topic, i do recommend this book and i hope you like it as much as i did.=]

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is basically a less impressive toned-down version of Patricia McCormick's Sold. The main girl in this story never does get raped even though she is sold to be a prostitute.... and they feed her and they never beat her.... so really it wasn't bad for her. The other girl, Oksana, has been in the situation for a long time and so she gets raped in the story, but you don't really hear about it and you certainly don't "see" it. The front cover quotes Kevin Brooks as saying the book is "As real as it gets." Umm... no. It's completely unrealistic and there are way too many coincidences and bits of good luck. I wasn't too impressed.

[Mr. Baad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I liked this book, I can't say I "enjoyed" reading it. Written for teens and not explicit in its descriptions, it is still a very disturbing story about a poverty-stricken young girl tricked into becoming a prostitute/slave. As Oksana is taken to London to be sold yet again, her handler kidnaps a rich British girl, Hope, in hopes of selling her as well. It is worth reading, both because it is an engaging read and because it is so eye-opening about a horrifying practice that we don't hear very much about.

[Erin Sterling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough read--one I wouldn't recommend if you're depressed. Oksana is a Russian girl who got sold into prostitution, thinking she was getting a waitressing job. Hope is a spoiled English daughter of a millionaire. Together in unlikely circumstances, they each learn from each other and have to give each other hope, at times when there seems to be almost none. The story is heart-wrenching and haunting, but ends abruptly with no real follow-up. Hope's character felt flat, while Oksana's has much more depth.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just didnt seem to link together. The synopsis makes it out to be all about Hope and how she deals with the events in the book, but really its more about Oksana. Hope didnt seem to have any mature qualities or even learn anything from the expierences. She came across as a shallow, flat character. Oksana had a deeper perspective. Despite the tough subject matter, I didn't really feel for the characters or feel as if a young reader could walk away with new knowledge or understanding about the sex trade and what it does to the young girls tricked into it. This was just a miss for me...

[blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rather be dead than be raped. If I would have been Oksana or Hope, I would have taken the cowardly way out, and killed myself. I guess that just proves I'm not brave, or strong. Of course I would fight initially, but since I wouldn't be exactly scared to die, not...exactly, I mean I would be, but...anyway, a gun wouldn't scare me off. I'd fight as hard as I could, but it wouldn't be enough, and I would die.

Oksana and Hope took the smart route, and they lived, and Hope even kept her virginity. Yay.

[Hannah✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, 3/5, not my favourite but definitely readable, took me one weekend to read. Pro's: makes you think, creates empathy and is true. Con's: too short, not much character description, goes off storyline sometimes.I thought that Natasha's character was a bit sceptical at times and she annoyed me, I skipped some of her chapters towards the end because all she went on about was her little brother in russia which has no context to do with the storyline, I didnt read these chapters and it didnt effect my understanding of the plot.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book in a store that sells secondhand books and when I read the blurb, I liked it. I decided to give it a try and I did not regret it. It gave light to some stuff I never really understood before. I was 13 when I read this and I was an extremely sheltered girl at the time. Having read this book made me realize how cruel the society can be. I didn't find anything special about the book as far as I remember. Reading was my past time so this one was just one among the many books I read as a tween.

[Chandler ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book while on vacation because I wanted a quick read and to be perfectly honest the cover looked cool and made me curious as to what the book was about. I was not prepared for the brutality of what the story actually was. It took me by surprise in a good way. The problem with this book unfortunately lies in the dual narration -- it's difficult to enjoy the whole book when you find one perspective so much more interesting then the other.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

[ SPOILER ] a pretty alright book. Only finished it because I never can't finish a book. The ending didn't make sense. How did she get out without being molested? She was sold as a sex slave, and everyone besides her did get molested. And they never told as to why. I found it somewhat ridiculous, and unrealistic.

[Hannah. · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I actually really enjoyed this book, despite it's clumsy storyline. I found the characters very interesting, despite being annoyed with the "poor girl, rich girl thrown together" stereotype. The book itself seemed to be raising awareness of child trafficking more than a piece of literature and therefore I wouldn't recommend it.

[Shannon Boyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts off as a promising read, two characters with plenty of substance and what appears to be an interesting plot. However this book is full of empty promises as it loses it's raw, gritty details far too soon. Some of this novel is beautifully written and includes some beautiful writing however the plot gets lost too soon despite trying to deal with such a hard hitting issue.