London, 1889. Charlie Swinscow, a young telegraph boy, is arrested after being caught with 14 shillings in his pocket.
 

But he didn’t steal the money. This was payment for his body, sold to a wealthy aristocrat at 19 Cleveland Street, a secretive gay brothel with connections all the way to the royal family. As a chain reaction of events unfolds, Charlie and his mother are swept up in a national scandal that will reshape both their lives.
 

This is the (mostly) true story behind the scandal that shook England. From the streets of Bermondsey to the halls of Buckingham Palace, a cover-up was exposed at the highest levels, as the Crown scrambled to protect itself from whispers of aristocratic vice corrupting the young men of London echoed through the city.
 

An engrossing tale of power, deception, and disgrace featuring a flea, a rat, a horse, a detective, a queen, a pimp, a god and Charlie. The telegraph boy who brought an empire to the brink of collapse.