An Almond for a Parrot was published in 2016 by English author Sally Gardner (who writes children’s fiction) under the pseudonym Wray Delaney,[1] this is an adult novel set in London in 1756, and has been described as an erotic fairytale.

[2] As remarked in The Guardian, "Historians estimate that one in five women worked as prostitutes in 18th‑century London.

Delaney takes care to outline the abuse, assault, disease and abandonment that are also often the courtesan’s lot.

A marriage ceremony is performed by 'disreputable and dissolute' clergymen (mostly in prisoners for debt) in eliciting a fee for the service without 'questions asked or stipulations made'.

Much of the story is set in a high-class brothel where Tully is groomed to be a successful courtesan.