THE DOUBLE STANDARD SPORTING HOUSE

A NOVEL

FORTHCOMING JANUARY 2026, She Writes Press

In 1868, when cheats and demagogues control New York City and women are abused and disposed of at will, there is plenty of injustice to go around. Using the one opportunity left to her, Nell “Doc” Hastings operates the Double Standard Sporting House as a way to fund her free clinic for women. A high-class brothel that entertains the city’s most powerful men, the Double wields invisible influence in pleasure and secrets. But when ward boss Benno O’Connor begins brutally remaking the sex trade with kidnapped young girls, Doc can’t stay quiet—especially after she meets Vivie.

She barely manages to save the 15-year-old, who arrives at the clinic bruised and bleeding. Seeking justice for Vivie and girls like her, Doc builds an unlikely alliance of religious reformers, a rare honest ward cop, and an alluring newspaper publisher she can’t seem to keep away from. Even with their help, Doc will need her sharpest tools—secrets, guile, and a surgical blade—to stop Benno’s cruelty.

Full of intrigue, friendship, and love, this timely story reminds us that women help and heal one another even when shameless criminals come to power.