The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey

In 1910, sixteen-year-old Lydia Harvey boarded a steam ship bound for Argentina. Instead of glamour, she found herself in a grimy world of sex work and cheap hotels, and later walking the grey streets of London. That should have been the end of the story: one that pimps, politicians and journalists told about young women the world over, girls who were meant to disappear. Instead, Lydia made a choice that would ensure she wasn't forgotten. Historian Julia Laite traces not only Lydia's extraordinary story, but those of the people brought together by one dramatic trial at London's Old Bailey: the flamboyant, border-crossing criminals who entrapped Lydia, the detectives who tracked them down, the reporter who stoked the scandal to international proportions, and the social worker who made it her life's mission to help young women be heard. Together, they tell an immersive story of crime, travel and justice, of lives long overlooked and forgotten by history, and of a world transforming into the 20th century, with repercussions still felt today.