The disappearance of Lydia Harvey : a true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice / Julia Laite.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Reserach note -- Historical actors -- Prologue -- 1. The disappearing girl -- 2. The detective -- 3. The newsman -- 4. The rescuer -- 5. The dancing master -- 6. The woman unknown -- 7. The sailor's wife -- Afterword.

"In 1910, sixteen-year-old Lydia Harvey boarded a steamship bound for Buenos Aires amid a global panic about sex trafficking. Pimps, politicians and moral reformers expected her to 'vanish forever into the slims of the underworld.' Instead, she reappeared on the grey streets of Londons Soho, and made a choice that meant she wouldn't be forgotten. Historian Julia Laite traces not only Lydia's life, but the lives of those who shaped her story, who were brought together by one dramatic trial at London's Old Bailey, the flamboyant border-crossing criminals who entrapped her, the detective who tracked them down, the reporter who stoked the scandal and the social worker who made it her life's mission to help young women be heard."--Book jacket.