Oliver Twist meets The Crimson Petal and the White in this devilishly funny, emotionally charged tale of finding a new path in life after a great fall.
William Dempsey rose from a life of thieving and prostitution to be the personal plaything of the Marquess of Argyll. Then a betrayal sees him returned to the rough streets of London without patronage, his West End apartment, or a place among the ton.
So on a stormy night, he arrives at a house in Southwark-Marathon Moll's in the Mint-the bawdyhouse he worked in during his ascent and where he earned the name Blue Billy. Here, amidst the parties and antics at Moll's, he meets Tom, a quiet, conflicted man, who senses in Billy a kindred soul. The attraction is immediate, and they take the first, tentative steps towards each other.
Then an ambitious young rogue arrives at the house. A man who asks Billy to fulfil the promise of his failed youth-he asks him to reclaim the language of his past, even if it costs him his future.
