Madam

by Antonia Murphy

A poignant and darkly comedic memoir from a mother who opened an ethical escort agency in small town New Zealand – the only country in the world where sex work is fully legalised – and dared to make a difference.

I’m Antonia, a real-life madam. I’ve got a blended family of six kids; I spend my mornings packing lunchboxes and my evenings reading bedtime stories. And two days a week, I work as a pimp. Procurer, madam – whatever you want to call it. Personally, I think of myself as a union organiser. For vaginas.

An ex-pat from San Francisco, Antonia Murphy is living on a farm in rural New Zealand with her husband and two kids, bored and isolated, when her husband leaves her. Suddenly, she has to figure out how to survive.

Upon discovering the decriminalisation of sex work in New Zealand, Antonia’s mind starts to wander, and she reaches out to the international sex worker community online to learn more about the business. This group of smart, anonymous, sassy women open Antonia’s eyes to the viability of sex work that safeguards women’s health and dignity, while providing a clean, shame-free establishment for male clients. Inspired, Antonia decides to open her own agency: The Bach.

Over the next three years, she encounters more than she could have imagined: domestic abuse, assault, theft, drugs and a stream of silly, horrific and sometimes touching requests from her clients. She witnesses the ways so many women are trapped – by early pregnancy, lack of education and the constraints of their circumstances. More than anything, she sees fire in the women who choose sex work: they refuse to give up and be poor, even when the odds are stacked against them.

In Madam, we follow Antonia through the turbulent years of her agency, as she toils to keep both her business and family afloat, and to keep the women of The Bach safe and thriving as they practice the world's oldest profession.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Feminism, Book Club, Biography

363 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2024

About the author

Antonia Murphy is the author of MADAM (coming October 2024), her memoir about running a legal, feminist escort agency in New Zealand. MADAM has also been made into a fictionalized TV series by the same name, starring Rachel Griffiths and Martin Henderson.

In 2015, Antonia published DIRTY CHICK with Penguin Random House (USA/Canada) and Text Publishing (Australia/New Zealand.)

A San Francisco native, Antonia lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5★

I attended the Auckland Writers Festival opening night because it sounded like fun & I had won a 'Black Card' for food & drink for the opening night. Unfortunately the heavens opened up as we were running to the train stop & we got completely drenched. Of course, a lot of the fun outdoor activities had to be cancelled. After having a drink at the first bar we found (unfortunately a sports bar) we went exploring & found Antonia Murphy was having her event in a shoe shop (no idea if this was the original plan or not) Antonia was stylish & a very engaging speaker! The three of us so enjoyed her talk that we watched the TV series on TV3 Now, but I have only just got to the book. - which after a good start, I found a little disappointing.

American born Antonia & Peter had ended up in NZ. They lived on a lifestyle block in the far North with their two children. Lets just say Peter had trouble accepting his responsibilities & Antonia was unconventional. Antonia was already toying with becoming a madam (she had found out that prostitution had been decriminalised in NZ) when Peter walked out & her lover Patrice & his children moved in. I can't remember (already) if the baby was born at this point or not, but in any case Antonia ended up with a blended family of six children to support. In return for running a motel she was able to start a brothel in some of the rooms. & after a rough start, Antonia did make money at it. A personal tragedy led to her leaving that lifestyle & moving to France - & then COVID struck. She now has moved to Auckland.

The brothel gave women a chance to make money in an area of the country where there would have been very few choices - none of them well paid. & Antonia is honest about personality clashes that lead to two of her co-managers leaving the business & difficulties with some of the women. & giving the men descriptive nicknames & putting them in the phone was a good way of making sure that they didn't take repeat bookings from problem customers. but, the demeaning nicknames stopped being funny very quickly (would it have been ok to give her women workers similar nicknames & reveal them to her readers?) & she really doesn't take responsibility for an unthinking action of hers that places one of the women in danger.

The book was interesting but I can't say I really enjoyed it.

[Frances Hodgson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of unethical goings ons for a supposedly ‘ethical escort agency’

[Heiti · Rating 2 out of 5]

i listened to the audiobook.
i wanted to enjoy this and i hoped it to be an ethical (as the author uses as a selling point for her business), insightful, and unprejudiced memoir about sex work.
sadly i didn’t find it to be this.
whilst listening, it felt like this was written more like a dark comedy, less like a memoir - and there was something irksome about the casual racism towards south asian men, the judgement towards staff drug use, and the sharing (albeit accidentally) personal details of a potential staff member with clients - and having very little remorse for doing so whilst also covering her tracks, in case it turned into a legal issue.
despite checking the boxes (on paper) for a safe and “ethical” escort company, the author’s business idea feels like it stemmed from a thought to make “easy” money without having to do the actual escort work. combined with no prior knowledge or experience within the sex work industry, this attitude felt a bit like it came with a saviour complex.
i never like to write negative reviews on any author’s personal memoir as each person’s story is their own - however as a written work i felt this story lacked originality and the writing style didn’t ever feel particularly insightful or well thought out.

[Zubin D'Sousa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this were well written, and I really wanted to like Antonia and her story- it is her story, and it does seem authentic and true. The sex workers were often funny and smart, and were probably the most interesting part of the book. But- repeatedly calling yourself ethical does not make it so, and there are some really borderline things she says and does. Not having security or some sort of silent alarm (or both) seems kind of crazy for the risk involved in this business. The lack of regard for 'consent' when sharing photos screenshot from Instagram of a woman that didn't work there, with unknown potential male clients, was shocking. And the categorisation of South Asians (particularly those with strong accents) as 'not having been taught about consent', is plain racist. I'm disappointed in how she defaults to generalisation, with no appreciation of the fact that the women she advocates for, have all faced the same judgement and sterotyping.

[Mia Barnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A recount of an American woman running an “ethical” brothel in Whangārei. Another one best enjoyed without critically analysing it, and her Americanness shone through. That being said I smashed through it pretty quickly as an audiobook (narrated by the author!). I’m pleased I read it and the Epilogue really tied it all together.

[Rubyyy!! · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am far too enraged to finish this supposed memoir. I saw the premise and thought it was amazing, ethical escort agency? Yes! Let’s decriminalise sex work and protect workers of that industry, give them a safer work environment.

But those are just the dreams of Antonia that she fails at spectacularly. Her constant power trip of being an “employer/ small business owner, throwing around the word ethical all the time even when it’s questionable and stroking her own egotistical well… member, because her business is a bit and I mean a BIT more better than those ‘other businesses’ as she puts it.

If Antonia would come off her high horse for just a second and stood face to face with it, I’m sure the beast would kick her in the head for her blinded enthusiasm and it would be better for the world.

Constantly putting her workers in danger, ONE person manning the place usually, abhorrent ID checks, putting adds out of girls on sketchy websites, oogling and swiping on girls dating profiles who AREN’T ADVERTISING for work and then asking them if they’d be interested (babes… come on). No security alarms and the girls only have their phone to get help? This only changes after someone is attacked. Seriously what were they thinking?, what if their clients took their phones and they couldn’t escape to the view of the outside shitty security cams.

Not to mention the moment that really put me off. When one of Antonia’s workers were attacked. Bad, not entirely anyone’s fault but that entitled creepy man. But the handling of it… seriously. When said girl came back to work the next day she said ‘oh it happens all the time haha glad it was me and not anyone else’ and Antonia tries to go ‘oh yeah that’s bad you shouldn’t normalise that for yourself, but I guess you’re hot so hahahah’

NO ANTONIA it’s not something to brush off like that fix your fucking security and protect your employees. She showed more empathy to her co-boss who felt guilty about letting that incident happen under her watch than the girl WHO GOT ATTACKED. Antonia fully gave this woman a hug whilst her employer who was attacked merely got some blatant ‘are you okays’ and a pat on her back because she’s a “tough girl”.

Disgusting. It enrages me even more that she had resources and so many people to contact, ones that she had met in fact, and asked some questions, but CLEARLY she needs to ask more! The whole time she’s defending it as “oh I’m only learning, at least I’m trying, I’m new to the business, I’m doing something good for these women” these are peoples LIVES and means of income Antonia they are not a learning experiment. Christ.

Not to mention her justification for literally playing a part in ruining marriages and also being a blatant racist and profiling a whole race off of one person?

A whole ethical mess manned by someone who can’t take accountability. Sorry!

[Sharondblk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like rating memoirs poorly. since this is Antonia's life, as she chooses to present it. But I had some serious issues with this book. The main one is that, despite the (potentially) salacious topic, this book is boring. Since sex-work is decriminalised in New Zealand (as it is in Victoria Australia, where I live) it's just another job. So, the main topic of this book is "running a small business is hard" and "getting and keeping good staff is hard". There are repeated copies of text messages from clients. I think it's deliberately showing how wearing this can be on someone running this job, but it's really boring to listen to.

Antonia believes that, when sex work is decriminalised it can be a great way for women to make a living. While I agree with this, it could have been a Ted Talk, and we could have been done in ten minutes. I guess, to prove this point, she repeatedly has her workers saying how much money they earn, how much fun they are having, and how they love their jobs. They are all great - except the drug users, but they are not welcome here. which might be fair enough, because this is a real job and drug addicts are also not welcome in my office, but it seems a little bit dismissive in this environment.

And this might be a spoiler, but it also might make you decide not to read the book - despite the book saying it was about three years, after describing two years, Antonia says 'and the last year was fine, not drama, nothing to tell'. Maybe she was sick of writing.

There was something unsatisfying about this book. I'm not going to analyse whether Antonia was, in fact ethical (yes, because she makes sure the 'girls' have true consent, or not because of the way she talks about her male clients. I'm going to skip over the racist assumptions about the entire Indian sub-continent (was was very surprised that this had been read by a sensitivity reader). I'm just going to say that I gritted my way through the second half of the book, and now I wish I hadn't bothered.

I listened to an audio-book, provided for free by Netgalley and Simon and Shuester Audio. The cover was much better on that edition - a picture of a 70s motel.

[Dee Blom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a rollercoaster. A memoir with some spice. Yes this is about sex work, but it’s also about gender imbalance, society’s judgement and shame around sex and the raw and real life of a Madam. This is about relationships, families and careers. Definitely worth a read.

[Hugh Davenport · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where do I begin?
I hate this book more than the author hates South Asian people. Sex work is real work; Sensitivity reading apparently isn’t. Murphy doesn’t appear to know a lot about or respect New Zealand and Maori culture, and the way she talked about South Asian people makes me wonder how this book got published in the first place. Plus, her victim complex is actually insane. While her ex-husband is absolutely a bum, it was an interesting choice to start the novel with the story of how she hates her disabled child and purposefully got impregnated by her side piece because she wanted a baby with “good DNA.” She then proceeded to blame Kiwi culture for her friends cutting her off. Has it ever occurred to you that you just suck? I thought she was being transparent in writing about all of this because she was going to talk about her character development, and that she had transformed from this initial mindset of hers, but no. By the end of the book, the only revelation she had made was on her newfound knowledge about the importance of consent, something she should have been extremely knowledgeable about going into the business.

A strong memoir uses lived experience to create a compelling narrative that illuminates the author’s growth/lesson learned, but Murphy seems more interested in chronicling herself, jumping at the chance to brag about her success and expose humiliating stories about her workers. Was it really necessary to add that little tidbit of Alicia getting shit on a client’s dick? I know it was supposed to reveal some of the not-so-glamorous realities of sex work, but it was so unnecessary that it came across as Antonia believing she’s above the actual sex work and that she can exploit the worker’s private, embarrassing stories for comedic effect and profit.

Not to mention the weird, strained anecdotes she’d share about her past to try and draw thematic parallels to her present. The chocolate cake story on page 62 was just straight up off putting and had little relevance to what she was currently going through. This happens several more times throughout the book.
Antonia Murphy, you will never be ethical, a feminist, and especially not an ethical feminist.
“Ethical was starting to sound expensive” Maybe Murphy's real calling was to download Zillow and become a predatory landlord

[Sophie Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is extremely readable, and a good companion to the show (which I really loved!!) Important discussions about sex work in New Zealand and I learnt a lot from that. I thought the text messages really added to it, but found the naivety around meth use, the racism, and the way she talked about her disabled son difficult, and limited the extent to which I would believe in, or trust her account

[Kate Smith]

funny to me that antonia murphy spent three years running the bach with a clean conscience the entire time, then wrote the words of this book, still convinced she was running an ethical service, then read the words she wrote, then thought ‘yep, i’ll give this to a publisher’, then the publisher was like ‘yeah mint lets give her a book deal’, and now there’s an entire tv show?!?!! all because an *american* (emphasis on american because that’s important and relevant) woman is so in love with the illusion she’s selling herself that she can’t take a step back and give herself a reality check.

strange. but also enjoyable to read so maybe i’m the problem

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this book for an honest review. This book was absolutely intriguing. Focusing on Antonia who decided to open a business to support her family after her husband left her, the story goes through how she opened an ethical escort agency in New Zealand. I can honestly say it’s not something I’ve ever thought about, but it was so intriguing all the way through. With the various managers, the ladies who worked there and the different things the various men wanted the story flowed really fast while keeping you interested.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️
I found it really interesting and it was an easy read.

[Chelsea Russell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to preface this review by saying this is my first time writing a reflection of a book and I think it is because I have never felt such a visceral reaction to a book before.

I also want to say that I think I had such an intense reaction to this story because I work in restorative approaches to sexual harm.

This author failed to explicitly identify the lack of ethical consideration she takes throughout her time creating her business. Now, is ‘The Bach’ more ethical than other escort agencies? Sure, but to consider yourself ethical when lacking so many structures of safety really boggled my mind.

As I read this book, there were numerous instances where I was genuinely shocked at how the author was describing the experiences. From not checking the ID of one women (until after asking if she fits the desires of a 70 year old), to passing off a client from one women’s to another when she described an unsafe experience. I was consistently surprised at how little self awareness she had.

I was holding out hope that by the middle/end of the story she would come to realize that her attempt at being ethical were not sufficient. That she was not as safe and empowering as she might think. I support sex workers - and I think the need for safe & ethical practices cannot be understated. But the lack of reflection throughout the book when women are being harmed and pressured is so so disappointing.

As I got near the end and realized the few reflections to ‘The Bach’ were focused on the men - I saw that a deeper reflection was not coming. I don’t blame an author for being honest about their perspective at the time, I find that very human. What I do care about is, years later, lacking the ability to reflect that her business is not ethical and her approach lacks safety and agency.

Again, there are worse places - but to claim to be ethical and then to lack safety, put profits over the women who work for you, and to disregard multiple perspectives of your workers is unethical.

I rarely have such a reaction to a book but working with survivors of sexual harm and working with people who have caused harm - I couldn’t help but see the glaring issues and the authors ability to shrug them off.

[Kelly Blackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read the memoir written by a woman who set up an ethical brothel in New Zealand.

Equal parts fascinating, funny and shocking sad. I wouldn’t consider myself a prude but I did find parts of this book confronting and maybe that’s the point?
I was intrigued and invested in the story and ultimately came away not knowing how I felt about her story.

I did find certain parts of this book problematic, especially when referring to a potential worker who had xxx in her Instagram profile, but overall it was interesting read which challenged my view of sex work.

[Talia Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

some real questionable stuff here but interesting memoir. nz lens is interesting too

[Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler-free.

Antonia's memoir retells her experience owning and operating a business in the sex industry. We're talking about an industry and workers that are extremely marginalised. This book is set in Whangārei in Aotearoa (NZ), and the author does recognise that Whangārei is not like cities or large towns in other parts of the world.

Antonia writes this book in a position of power. Throughout the book, Antonia provides glimmers of who she is but doesn't share much with you as the reader. What she does share is that she is a mother, partner, daughter, writer - all labels. As the reader, you learn that Antonia has a child with a disability and a blended family. She also shares her struggle navigating an ethical non-monogamous relationship (but does not articulate this well), and the challenges of a marriage ending.

Deficit language used throughout. There was multiple moments where I felt uncomfortable due to Antonia's choice of language. Antonia entered the sex industry inexperienced and she does to an extent, try to educate herself. What Antonia fails to do is recognise her internal biases. If Antonia was sharing her stories as a sex worker - I wouldn't have an issue with her writing.

Page 288. I won't provide spoilers but the author completely contradicts herself. What Antonia did to this woman put her in immediate danger.

Antonia shares her desire to own and run an ethical business. She slams other businesses throughout the novel by labelling them as unethical, unsafe and dirty. Where is the care or consideration for the people working at other establishments? This narrative is already so prominent, that sex work is dirty and unsafe - I think the book could have done without the negative comments about other establishments. Antonia does not direct her comments at the workers but by putting her establishment on a pedestal, it implies that the women working at the other venues were lesser than.

Is anyone else thinking - WHERE WAS THE SECURITY?! Was this another attempt to cut costs?

The more I think about this book the more issues I find. Antonia uses 'ethical' as a buzzword. This establishment provided the bare minimum, then wanted a gold star because other establishments were 'worse'. Big no from me. Go into this book with curiosity and remember that this is one womens retelling of partially her experience and the experiences of others.

One last comment. Maybe this was Antonia trying to raise awareness? But valuing white 'skinny' women over POC, then saying 'it's what sold'. I don't live in Aotearoa but I'm an Australian white-passing Indigenous woman. This is so loaded. It made me very uncomfortable (maybe it was intended to). I won't say anymore but I'm sure you can tell this book bothered me.

[Rianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 🌟
This book started well, I thought, and had an interesting premise but I felt the main theme was the stress of running a small business with finite resources and because that is my literal life (albeit it less stressful circumstances) I wanted more dramatised arcs (a lot to ask for from someone’s real life account!!)

I also thought there was a lot of inappropriate phrases & generalisations. Against the bigger girls, girls of colour and south East Asian men?!! I found this part difficult to hear.

Also, Patrice seems like the kindest man ever.

[Violet Fine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Urrgghhhhhh. As a civilian? Probably a 4 star read. As a sex worker? It's a one star from me. I wanted to stop reading a few times, however I persevered because I thought the attitude may have changed. It didn't.

From casual racism around South Asian men to the caps Madam Antonia put on extras, I found it extremely frustrating to read.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

i feel like all of my issues have already been expressed in my friends reviews, but my god this book was terrible

right from the beginning, it was evident that antonia murphy only saw her escort business as a way to make quick $$ and as a result, dove in headfirst and failed to put even an ounce of careful thought into it. the first red flag i noticed was when she had to TOLD to go on reddit and search for r/nz seggs work. how could she not work that out herself? if you don't even know how to properly research the area you want to specialise in, i don't know what to say. there is also a moment a quarter or so into the book where antonia murphy has issues with the local council, and it is only then that she decides to read the nz government's handbook/laws on sex work. by this point, they've been open for a couple of months or a year!!!!! are you seriously telling me that she found a location, hired escorts and took clients without even reading the damn laws first?

she goes on and on about her escort agency being better than the others - more ethical, safer for the workers - but all her anecdotes dispute that. how is it safe to source escorts on tinder by posing as men, and then revealing your true identity when they swipe right? only asking for one form of identification in the form of ID, which antonia only requested at the END of piper's interview? wanting the bach to be drug free but not even ASKING in interviews if these potential hires do drugs, or making them do drug tests? installing only ONE panic alarm in each room next to bed only once one of antonia's escorts had been attacked? there are so many more examples in this memoir and i am truly appalled that she had the nerve to include so many more, yet still think of and parade her business as an overall success. for someone who put all of her employees in dangerous situations, even reignited some of their trauma, she has a lot less guilt than i would expect.

this is the danger of starting a business, especially in an unfamiliar field. people often assume they hold more knowledge/expertise than they actually do, they get cocky or they see the potential $$, and the business falls apart. but most businesses don't put people's lives in danger like sex work does, which is why it is so disappointing to see antonia's view; that since sex work is legal in NZ and she interviewed two sex workers for one article, she must be an expert. if i had her level of delusional confidence in my own knowledge based off surface level research, i would be absolutely unstoppable (and running my own finance business or something)

if this business was a psychology experiment, she would've failed the ethical guidelines.

and my review doesn't even mention the other things like her racist portrayal of south east asians and maori people ("I don't speak hood"? what?), the weird ableism surrounding her son, and her crazy relationship dynamics

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randomly got this from Libby, and happy that I did.

It's an interesting look into the world of prostitution, and I think the author did a good job of the pacing (mostly) and "fictionalizing" some bits.

I didn't need quite as much detail about her handicapped son, but I get how it was hard for her to cut those parts. Also, dear god, why did she ever have kids with her first husband? What an absolute obvious dead beat.

[Christine McEwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riverbend Book Club Jul-25. Thought I’d left this one too late to finish, but was a surprisingly quick read - one day. Not really a fan of the content, but the writing style was easily digestible and the narrative of the disabled son kept the story going to find out what happened at the end. Importance of trusting your instincts.

[Miranda Bryce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this really compelling. I like memoirs that are written like stories which this one was. It had pace to it and never felt boring even without a strong plot line. I learned a lot!

[Charley Bourne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laughed and cried, learned loads, and found it genuinely so interesting.

[Di · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review after bookclub

[Jennifer Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great Christmas read, thanks to my dear B, you always surprise me.
A most engaging book about the ethical Escort agency run by Antonia Murphy in a small town in New Zealand, a country where sex work is decriminalised. How she managed to find women available to start the business in a rural area is amazing in itself but her family backstory contains some issues that make the effort pretty impressive. It is her version of a true story, with pseudonyms disguising actual people but text messages are quoted verbatim that I suspect are genuine, and hilarious at times. Also her names for the clients seem to be genuine and very funny.
The truth about aspects of the sexual service itself were pretty confronting at times for me, but it is part of the experience of reading.and shows what is involved. She ran an ethical business where women could make real money, initially even providing free childcare.
The contacts she made and the groups who helped her setup the business and deal with the psychological aspects of trauma the women dealt with are outlined and referenced for the benefit of others. It's not for everyone, but reading it is easy because of Antonia's direct and funny style.
A gutsy performance in my opinion, and a good read
Highly recommended

[Angela Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the book for many readers, this is set in small town New Zealand and is the account of a woman who bravely, without previous experience, decides to set up a brothel in small town New Zealand.
Despite seeking advice from many in the business, the reality does not make for an easy or lucrative career for Antonia Murphy. Nothing new but the demands of many the clients are pretty icky. The male customers generally do not come out of it well! I was really pleased to read that the author has moved on in her life with a good man and in another town. The writing is good and I'll be curious to see what is next from Ms Murphy.

[Mrs Moa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting!

Faced with a husband looking for a way out of his responsibilities as a father and partner, judgement from her small community and a baby on the way, (which doesn’t belong to her current husband), Antonia needs to ignite her independence and learn how to support herself.

Fascinated that prostitution is legal in New Zealand, she decides to start her own escort agency that empowers the workers, despite no actual experience- only advice from reddit users and the NZ Prostitutions Collective and her own tenacity.

This is Antonia’s account of juggling her life as a mum, a lifestyle block/hobby farmer, a new partner and step mum, a madam and finding the balance between being a friend and boss to her staff - at the end of the day, she’s running a business, she’s not here to be your councillor.

Keep an open mind when reading this book, you’re exploring the world of sex work - conversations, blunt communication, taboo desires and positions are openly discussed without shame.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this book, all opinions are my own.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light-hearted contextualisation of sex work in NZ. Murphy reinforced a lot of thoughts I've had about the industry and what it means from a female autonomy / sexual emancipation perspective. Provided a few laughs and some refreshing honesty. Surprised about some of the generalisations, but reminded myself that Murphy is writing from her own professional experiences. "As anyone who's ever been a woman will tell you, our sexuality is the whole world's business".

[anthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Equal parts hilarious, heartbreaking and fascinating. An incredible memoir!