Victorians! discussion

I just finished Mary Barton that features yet another of those repentant 'fallen women' who, alas, cannot survive to the end.

It got me thinking about this very productive trope in Victorian lit and it occurred to me I could not actually think of any prostitute who has a happy ending.

Does anyone know of any such book? I am not as familiar with Victorian lit as many others but I have read a share of it and cannot, for the life of me, think of a single example. But surely, it must exist?

Try Esther Waters by George Moore. Esther is a fallen woman by Victorian standards and, unlike most, she survives the novel. It was a terrific read with lots of eye-opening detail.

Renee wrote: "Try Esther Waters by George Moore. Esther is a fallen woman by Victorian standards and, unlike most, she survives the novel. It was a terrific read with lots of eye-o..."

Thank you so much!

Not only does she survive as so does her child conceived out of wedlock. I have noticed that fallen women's children are all too likely to die. The poor Esther in Mary Barton has that happening to her; her baby is dead by the time we finally meet her. Then again, the novel does kill a lot of babies, Gaskell was going through a very hard time on account of the loss of her own children, too.