"All men want a nymphomaniac virgin."
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Illusions: Biography of a High Class Escort by Ellen Thomsen Trafford Publishing
book review by Priscilla Estes
Thomsen, a talented female biographer, entertains and educates with a true account of Elysia, an expensive prostitute. Through explicit anecdotes, extensive e-mail correspondence, and chapters written by clients, we learn the business side of high class hooking and its emotional complexities. Details of client vetting, room staging, and relationship marketing are fascinating as are the types and motives of clients.
A first-person narrative brings you close to Elysia as she sighs over the incredible amount of energy it takes to "make a man feel like a king" compared to the less—fake effort of "real communication." In periodic asides to "women of the world," Elysia gives advice on how to hug a man and stroke his ego as well as the often overlooked importance by married women of really nice underwear.
Eye-opening escapades trace Elysia's rise from neglected little girl to stripper to major league hooker, including a hilarious foot fetish business and a complex long-term threesome. She shares feelings of shame and the emotional toll of keeping her career a secret from her family and boyfriends. Periodically, Elysia weighs her sporadic nursing jobs against the money, power, and control hooking provides.
You must read the book to discover if Elysia abandons hooking and finds self-love and a relationship that's not purely sexual. This well-organized and fascinating biography shows the business side of hooking as well as the vulnerable human side of the hooker, who in the final analysis, is just a person looking for love and acceptance, like everybody else.