putty in someone's hand

桐野 夏生の "Grotesque" を読んでいます。
若い頃は超美人でスタイルも抜群だったハーフのYurikoは何故かいつの間に売春婦になってしまいました。

"We'd both changed. I got fat and Yuriko got old. We both knew all about the other's glory days. There had been a time when all Yuriko had to do was walk down the street and she'd have men tripping over themselves to get to her. They were like putty in her hands. But in later years she couldn't get a decent customer if she tried. I knew she'd lost her selling power. And I couldn't lie about it. So Yuriko grew distant. I was relieved when she stopped contacting me.

"putty" を辞書で見ると、"(like) putty in somebody’s hands" という表現があることが分かりました。

・Oxford English Dictionary: easily controlled or influenced by another person: She'll persuade him. He's like putty in her hands.
・Collins Dictionary: a person who is easily influenced or persuaded: he's putty in her hands
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To be easy to control or bend to one's wishes. (Putty is a very malleable material.): She was so persuasive and flattering that I was like putty in her hands, ready to do whatever she asked.

なるほど、日本語の「手玉に取る」を連想させますね。