Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress – Daniel Defoe

"I would be a Man-Woman; for as I was born free, I would die so."

Roxana, left destitute by a fool of a husband, uses her beauty and sharp wits to amass a fortune as a courtesan to the wealthy men of Europe. She values her financial independence above all else, refusing marriage to maintain control of her assets. But as she ages, her past returns to haunt her in the form of a daughter she abandoned, leading to a dark and ambiguous conclusion.

Defoe's novel is a darker companion to Moll Flanders. It is a psychological study of the cost of survival and the hardening of the heart. Roxana is a complex anti-heroine who challenges the gender roles of her time.