Paid for: My Journey Through Prostitution by Rachel Moran (2013)

Rachel Moran's extraordinary book lays bare the seven years she spent as a prostitute. It took her more than a decade to write, looking back with clear eyes into the hell from which she had escaped. A blend of political analysis and memoir, this is at once an indictment of Ireland's tolerance of violent sexual enslavement and a remarkable woman's celebration of the survival of body, soul and passionate sexuality. It is a book about brutality by a writer of great sensitivity.