Thank you to University of Toronto and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available August 18th 2020

Based in the sultry city of Natal, Brazil, Marie-Eve Carrier-Moisan's ethnographic story "Gringo Love" poses questions about power dynamics in policing sex work. Why is it that women from favelas are labelled as criminals for doing exactly what college women in upper middle class neighborhoods do? How does sex work provide a means of upward mobility? Who is "protected" when sex workers rights are violated?

Through simple yet illustrative dialogue, Carrier-Moisan brings to life the story of Carol and her friends, women who make their living by providing services for the wealthy foreigners. It's particularly interesting to juxtapose the women's view of themselves as workers who are aiming for a better future for themselves and their children & their client's view of the women as sexy, submissive ladies they are supporting and keeping safe from "brutal" native men. In a way, the foreigners are coming to Natal to fulfill colonial fantasies.

There are moments in this book that will make you flinch, moments that will make you disgusted and moments that will leave you indescribably sad. There are also moments of levity, of sisterly compassion, of clarity. The graphic form was engaging and enjoyable & the essays in the appendix help contextualize and tie the story together. I would highly recommend!!