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Operator 56: A Call, a Kiss and a Body Count
Operator 56? She was just the beginning…
I wasn’t just surviving anymore. I was becoming someone I finally respected.
In 1998, with a triple murder case behind her and bills stacking up, Lucia Domenica picked up the phone—literally—and began working nights on the sex lines deep in the heart of Sydney. What started as survival turned into something connection, power, even healing.
Operator 56 is a wild, raw and darkly funny memoir, layered with serious undertones of chaos, trauma and survival. It peels back the curtain on brothels, phone sex, and the unsolved crimes Lucia was entangled in. Through lipstick-stained lies, strange men and real friendships, Lucia held it all together—for her daughters, and herself.
In a world that tried to break her, Lucia found a voice that couldn’t be silenced—proving that real life can be messier and stranger than any Hollywood script, and that strength is often found in the most unlikely places.
This isn’t just a story. It’s a love letter to every woman who’s ever been underestimated.
Operator 56 flips the bird to judgement—and will make you question everything you think you know about sex, love, work and life.
I wasn’t just surviving anymore. I was becoming someone I finally respected.
In 1998, with a triple murder case behind her and bills stacking up, Lucia Domenica picked up the phone—literally—and began working nights on the sex lines deep in the heart of Sydney. What started as survival turned into something connection, power, even healing.
Operator 56 is a wild, raw and darkly funny memoir, layered with serious undertones of chaos, trauma and survival. It peels back the curtain on brothels, phone sex, and the unsolved crimes Lucia was entangled in. Through lipstick-stained lies, strange men and real friendships, Lucia held it all together—for her daughters, and herself.
In a world that tried to break her, Lucia found a voice that couldn’t be silenced—proving that real life can be messier and stranger than any Hollywood script, and that strength is often found in the most unlikely places.
This isn’t just a story. It’s a love letter to every woman who’s ever been underestimated.
Operator 56 flips the bird to judgement—and will make you question everything you think you know about sex, love, work and life.
Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 7, 2025
Lucia emulated sincere joy as she asked me to read her book, published by our mutual contact Hembury Books, the perfect pairing to bring this story to life. Perpetually honest, unafraid and unapologetic about how things roll, nothing is withheld. There is no pussyfooting around, no shame, no excuses. Impulsive, driven and a fierce protector of her children, Lucia has lived a full and varied life. Any mistakes along the way have padded her experience with moments of learning, and conversely, the admitted faults never morph into self-absorbed regret or what ifs.
Forced to support herself and her young girls in a back and forth troubled marriage, living with an unsupportive, ineffectual and useless provider, she has quite simply married the wrong man. Landing in the sex industry, the tales of sex lines and brothels are in equal measure hilarious, scary and lonely. I love the lack of self judgement, and the pride, determination and desire to offer up her learnings to the reader. Each chapter ends with a takeaway worth keeping.
Operator 56 will affirm your belief that genuine people still exist. Without trying, Lucia shines with a bright and absolute character who gives things a crack, falls down, gets up and keeps on going. At the core is a wild ride of impulsivity, gumption and grit to thrive for her family. The thought of a heavily pregnant woman performing illegal electrical work for her useless husband is priceless. Beautiful female friendships. All heart, all spark, all skill. Writing as she lives, loud, raw and full of heart.
With my thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
Forced to support herself and her young girls in a back and forth troubled marriage, living with an unsupportive, ineffectual and useless provider, she has quite simply married the wrong man. Landing in the sex industry, the tales of sex lines and brothels are in equal measure hilarious, scary and lonely. I love the lack of self judgement, and the pride, determination and desire to offer up her learnings to the reader. Each chapter ends with a takeaway worth keeping.
Operator 56 will affirm your belief that genuine people still exist. Without trying, Lucia shines with a bright and absolute character who gives things a crack, falls down, gets up and keeps on going. At the core is a wild ride of impulsivity, gumption and grit to thrive for her family. The thought of a heavily pregnant woman performing illegal electrical work for her useless husband is priceless. Beautiful female friendships. All heart, all spark, all skill. Writing as she lives, loud, raw and full of heart.
With my thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
November 6, 2025
A Powerful and Intriguing Memoir of Resilience
"Operator 56: A Call, a Kiss and a Body Count" is Lucia Domenica’s unapologetically raw debut memoir. With its captivating title and eye-catching book cover, the reader will be in for a roller-coaster of a ride – being privy to the author’s often tumultuous life as she struggles to navigate her burdensome marriage with a narcissistic, unsupportive and frequently abusive husband, and to be there as the caregiver to her four daughters and later to handle her unusual line of work.
Earlier in her life, Domenica found herself in the unenviable position of being on the periphery of a triple murder. Complications abound and out of desperation to take care of her responsibilities for her growing family, she joined the sex industry – first on the phone lines as “Operator 56” – which proved to be a severe learning curve about men and then in brothels as a floor receptionist cum overall go-to girl. She worked throughout the night only to arrive home in the early hours to get her daughters ready for school, attend to school runs and to keep up with other domestic chores. Yet, out of this gloomy situation, she found deeply gratifying connections with the strong women she worked with and even occasionally with clients. Through these bonds, many lessons were learnt, like finally understanding that she needed to give herself 'compassion and time to heal so the cycle of blame and guilt tied to childhood trauma could finally dissolve.' (pg 77)
"Operator 56" kicks the lid wide open, giving us boldly honest ring side glimpses of an industry – one that has been in existence from time immemorial but a topic that cultural norms would rather dictate that we not talk about let along lay bare the nitty-gritty happenings in a book. It is written without judgement and thereby welcomes the reader to adopt that same lens.
"Operator 56" is a page turner crafted in a vibrant voice, with sheer honesty and peppered with humour, both self-deprecating and at times dark. As the author acknowledges, “Life isn’t black and white, and neither are these stories.” Within the sixty chapters of the book, readers will absorb interesting or startling aspects of Domenica's life, of the colleagues she worked with and the clients they encountered – the pages buzz with hilarious anecdotes, anguished situations, anxiety, sadness, violence, rage and all emotions in-between.
Domenica is now an accomplished mixed media artist, an educator of children and a published author. While initially, anger may have fuelled her to write this memoir, it is a testament to her courage to be able to process and share truths of an often difficult but full life – to reclaim aspects that she had never owned or wanted to own.
I highly recommend this unflinchingly brave memoir which hums with healing and cathartic energy. In the author’s words, “Operator 56 is a fierce reminder that the truth, even the messy kind, is worth telling.”
"Operator 56: A Call, a Kiss and a Body Count" is Lucia Domenica’s unapologetically raw debut memoir. With its captivating title and eye-catching book cover, the reader will be in for a roller-coaster of a ride – being privy to the author’s often tumultuous life as she struggles to navigate her burdensome marriage with a narcissistic, unsupportive and frequently abusive husband, and to be there as the caregiver to her four daughters and later to handle her unusual line of work.
Earlier in her life, Domenica found herself in the unenviable position of being on the periphery of a triple murder. Complications abound and out of desperation to take care of her responsibilities for her growing family, she joined the sex industry – first on the phone lines as “Operator 56” – which proved to be a severe learning curve about men and then in brothels as a floor receptionist cum overall go-to girl. She worked throughout the night only to arrive home in the early hours to get her daughters ready for school, attend to school runs and to keep up with other domestic chores. Yet, out of this gloomy situation, she found deeply gratifying connections with the strong women she worked with and even occasionally with clients. Through these bonds, many lessons were learnt, like finally understanding that she needed to give herself 'compassion and time to heal so the cycle of blame and guilt tied to childhood trauma could finally dissolve.' (pg 77)
"Operator 56" kicks the lid wide open, giving us boldly honest ring side glimpses of an industry – one that has been in existence from time immemorial but a topic that cultural norms would rather dictate that we not talk about let along lay bare the nitty-gritty happenings in a book. It is written without judgement and thereby welcomes the reader to adopt that same lens.
"Operator 56" is a page turner crafted in a vibrant voice, with sheer honesty and peppered with humour, both self-deprecating and at times dark. As the author acknowledges, “Life isn’t black and white, and neither are these stories.” Within the sixty chapters of the book, readers will absorb interesting or startling aspects of Domenica's life, of the colleagues she worked with and the clients they encountered – the pages buzz with hilarious anecdotes, anguished situations, anxiety, sadness, violence, rage and all emotions in-between.
Domenica is now an accomplished mixed media artist, an educator of children and a published author. While initially, anger may have fuelled her to write this memoir, it is a testament to her courage to be able to process and share truths of an often difficult but full life – to reclaim aspects that she had never owned or wanted to own.
I highly recommend this unflinchingly brave memoir which hums with healing and cathartic energy. In the author’s words, “Operator 56 is a fierce reminder that the truth, even the messy kind, is worth telling.”
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews