The Kind of Girl I Am by Julia Watts

The Kind of Girl I Am chronicles the bawdy adventures of Vestal Jenkins. Born in a dreary Kentucky coal camp during the Great Depression, Vestal uses her one natural resource--her extraordinary beauty--as her ticket out of poverty. Vestal's bawdy adventures include a brief period of religious piety, a loveless but lucrative marriage, an unsatisfactory stint as a shopgirl and a financially rewarding foray into the world's oldest profession.

This last venture leads Vestal to find her true profession--as the madam of the most notorious brothel in Knoxville, Tennessee. Spanning decades, The Kind of Girl I Am humorously explores the changing sexual and social mores of the South and depicts an extraordinary woman's experiences of triumph, heartbreak, friendship and forbidden love.