{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260418T162306Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786867876?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"0786867876","authors":["Sian Rees","Siân Rees"],"book_id":"9780786867875","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-floating-brothel-0786867876","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780786867875.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","description":"A seafaring story with a twist -- the incredible voyage of a shipload of \"disorderly girls\" and the men who transported them, fell for them, and sold them. This riveting work of rediscovered history tells for the first time the plight of the female convicts aboard the Lady Julian , which set sail from England in 1789 and arrived in Australia's Botany Bay a year later. The women, most of them petty criminals, were destined for New South Wales to provide its hordes of lonely men with sexual favors as well as progeny. But the story of their voyage is even more incredible, and here it is expertly told by a historian with roots in the boat-building business and a true love of the sea. Siv¢n Rees delved into court documents and firsthand accounts to extract the stories of these women's experiences on board a ship that both held them prisoner and offered them refuge from their oppressive existence in London. At the heart of the story is the passionate relationship between Sarah Whitelam, a convict, and the ship's steward, John Nicol, whose personal journals provided much of the material for this book. Along the way, Rees brings the vibrant, bawdy world of London -- and the sights, smells, and sounds of an eighteenth-century ship -- vividly to life. In the tradition of Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea , this is a winning combination of dramatic high seas adventure and untold history.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780786867875","publication_date":"20020306","publisher":"Hachette Books","slug":"the-floating-brothel","subtitle":"The Extraordinary True Story of an Eighteenth-century Ship and Its Cargo of Female Convicts","title":"The Floating Brothel"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"TRA006010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Maritime History","score":0.7596,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"17th-Century History","score":0.721,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"18th-Century History","score":0.7182,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"TRA006010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Maritime History","score":0.7596,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"17th-Century History","score":0.721,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"18th-Century History","score":0.7182,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS004000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Australia & New Zealand History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037050","confidence_band":"high","label":"18th-Century History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRA006010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Maritime History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Maritime History","score":0.7596,"slug":"maritime-history"},{"label":"17th-Century History","score":0.721,"slug":"17th-century-history"},{"label":"18th-Century History","score":0.7182,"slug":"18th-century-history"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Maritime History","Good for fans of History","Good for readers who enjoy Maritime History and 17th-Century History."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Clarence Henry Haring","Musaicum Press","Kelsey Monroe","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9788027332021","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9788027332021.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":13.6942,"title":"The Pirates of the West Indies in 17th Century","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9788027332021"},{"authors":["Keith Thomson"],"book_id":"9780316703635","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780316703635.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":13.1869,"title":"Born to Be Hanged","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780316703635"},{"authors":["David Cordingly"],"book_id":"9780812977226","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780812977226.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":13.1409,"title":"Under the Black Flag","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780812977226"},{"authors":["Eric Jay Dolin","Paul Brion","HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books"],"book_id":"9781631496226","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781631496226.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":13.1144,"title":"Black Flags, Blue Waters","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781631496226"},{"authors":["Sean Kingsley","Rex Cowan"],"book_id":"9781639365951","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781639365951.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":13.0646,"title":"The Pirate King","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781639365951"},{"authors":["Caroline Alexander","Nicholas Boulton","Penguin Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780142004692","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780142004692.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":10.3015,"title":"The Bounty","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780142004692"},{"authors":["Steven Ujifusa"],"book_id":"9781476745985","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781476745985.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":10.2634,"title":"Barons of the Sea","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781476745985"},{"authors":["David Grann","Dion Graham","Random House Audio"],"book_id":"9780593678251","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593678251.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-21T16%3A16%3A06Z","score":9.9093,"title":"The Wager","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593678251"}],"topics":[],"what_you_get":["Reading lane: Maritime History and 17th Century History.","Publisher: Hachette Books."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":782,"goodreads_ratings_count":1421,"goodreads_reviews_count":186,"quality_score":0.9386}}