Step into the decadent underworld of late 19th-century Paris, where pleasure and disillusionment collide in Soft Flesh, Paul Adam's daring portrait of desire, money, and survival. When Lucie enters the grand salon for the first time, she's thrust into a world of champagne, smoke, and dangerous charm. In this house of mirrors-part brothel, part social stage-men scramble for sensation while women maneuver for power and escape. Lucie becomes "Nina," adopting a new name and playing the game as best she can. But beneath the laughter and flirtation lies a sharp awareness: this is a world where softness is currency, and every embrace comes at a cost. First published in 1885 as Chair Molle, Paul Adam's scandalous debut shocked Parisian society with its raw depiction of prostitution and the transactional nature of love. Banned, censored, yet whispered about in literary circles, it remains a powerful window into the gilded yet brutal Belle Époque.