Foreword
The call girl is a creature of society who is rarely in the public view. Her sisters in the profession are frequently picked up in Vice Squad raids on suspect bars, and admittedly, every so often there is a major scandal of the Christine Keeler-Mantly Rice-Davies sort. But for the most part, the professional call girl leads a relatively inconspicuous life, content and secure, entertaining her clients and earning her wages.
But Authoress Jean Sifton, who has treated countless numbers of social issues in her many novels, was curious about the backgrounds of the girls who choose such a life. Are they all jaded and money-hungry, attracted by the promise of easy wealth, expensive gifts, and fast cars? Or are any of them lured innocently into the trade by false descriptions of what is involved? And is it really all easy money and a life without tears or regrets?
Miss Sifton set off to find out. For six months she combed the larger cities of our nation, interviewing anyone who would talk to her on this subject, and the rather startling facts that she discovered are here presented in novel form. Contrary to what she expected to find, a good many of the girls who end up as call girls are apparently tricked into it at first. The virtuous young country girl alone and afraid in the big city is, by now, a universal cliche, but it is just this type of situation that Miss Sifton portrays in The Unsuspecting Girl Friend as a characteristic of fact. Like Laura Campbell, the heroine of this story, so many girls come annually to New York, Chicago or Los Angeles to find better paying jobs and make it big. When their hopes aren't realized soon enough, they often find themselves at the mercy of ruthless bill collectors and unpitying landlords, cold and hungry and with no one to turn to. Frequently they are befriended by girls such as Virginia Miller, girls who already know the system, who take the young innocents under their wing and help them get started. And most frequently, a girl doesn't know what she's getting into when she's introduced to a man her new friend knows who's running an "escort" service. "Make a little hard cash by going out on harmless dates with clients of mine," he persuades her, but never is she told how much else besides escorting is really involved.
And that's how it starts. Maybe the first time it's rape, and the girl runs home to her small town in disgrace. Or maybe she's mad for awhile, but then decides she needs the money and will do it "just one more time" till she lands a real job. Maybe, just maybe, she likes it, and realizes that she's found that job. Or perhaps it's never a question of liking it, but simply that here is a high-paying occupation with low demands.
Whatever, it is interesting to follow young Laura Campbell's progression from naive farm girl to sophisticated woman of the world, in a story that the authoress finds representative of the many she's heard. And we leave it to you, the reader, to decide the merits of the situation.
-The Publishers