Step into the perfumed parlors of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history-and the catalyst for a culture war that rocked the nation. Operating in Chicago's notorious Levee district at the dawn of the last century, the Club's proprietors, two aristocratic sisters named Minna and Ada Everleigh, welcomed moguls and actors, senators and athletes, foreign dignitaries and literary icons, into their stately double mansion, where thirty stunning Everleigh "butterflies" awaited their arrival. Courtesans named Doll, Suzy Poon Tang, and Brick Top devoured raw meat to the delight of Prince Henry of Prussia and recited poetry for Theodore Dreiser. Whereas lesser madams pocketed most of a harlot's earnings and kept a "whipper" on staff to mete out discipline, the Everleighs made sure their girls dined on gourmet food, were examined by an honest physician, and even tutored in the literature of Balzac.
Not everyone appreciated the sisters' attempts to elevate the industry. Rival Levee madams hatched numerous schemes to ruin the Everleighs, including an attempt to frame them for the death of department store heir Marshall Field, Jr. But the sisters' most daunting foes were the Progressive Era reformers, who sent the entire country into a frenzy with lurid tales of "white slavery"--the allegedly rampant practice of kidnapping young girls and forcing them into brothels. This furor shaped America's sexual culture and had repercussions all the way to the White House, including the formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
With a cast of characters that includes Jack Johnson, John Barrymore, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., William Howard Taft, "Hinky Dink" Kenna, and Al Capone, Sin in the Second City is Karen Abbott's colorful, nuanced portrait of the iconic Everleigh sisters, their world-famous Club, and the perennial clash between our nation's hedonistic impulses and Puritanical roots.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sin in the Gilded Age,
By
This review is from: Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul (Paperback)
Wow, what an increditible book! Prior to 'Sin' I had just finished reading 'Devil in the White City'. Leaving behind the World's Columbia Expedition, Dr. Holmes, Daniel Burnham and Mayor Harrison as we enter the new century and watch two of the most enterprising women of their time build a household name for a brothel - the Everleigh Club. Unbelievable. It' a story I was completely unfamiliar with and I live just 110 miles west of the city.
The worst part of the whole book is that it's over. It's hard to know there are no more pages to turn. I can only imagine the hours, days, weeks and years that must have been put into this book bringing back to life some of the most interesting characters of turn of the century. Not only were the people fascinating, but Karen Abbott brings us into everyday life - the sights, the sounds of this bustling industrial gilded-age city. You can see the muddy streets, feel the soot filled coal-blackened air, smell the rancor in the air, the near modern city with electricity side by side gas lanterns. Horses and buggies next to electric cars, steam locomotives next to elevated trains, the telephone and that new fangled contraption - the automobile. What must it have been like? I'd love to go back in time and see the famous brownstone and it's ornamental rooms, the everyday dress of the well to do and that of the ordinary. This book is that portal, and Karen Abbott brings it all back to life. It reads like a novel and yet it's all true. It really happened. What would have been if the Everleigh sisters hadn't advertised near the end, would the Mayor have continued to look the other way? Would the temperance movement have rid them eventually? Why not stick it out after returning from Europe and the dust settled a bit? All those unanswered questions. In retirement, why did they choose New York City? Why not return home to the south? Why didn't they finally publish a tell-all memoir? Ahh, this book was fascinating and it's a wonder to think of all the things that may have turned out differently. The Everleigh sisters had quite a run. But the story also has it's dark side and reminds us that there were unspeakable crimes against so many women of that time and the heroics of those that tried and finally succeeded in bringing it to light. And unlike the movies where everything is resolved neatly in the end, the practice continued and the vice around it survived well beyond those years. American history in the nineteenth and early twentieth century is a wonderful; this book and the stories within are right up there with Stephen Ambrose's 'Undaunted Courage' and 'Nothing like it in the World' and Hampton Side's 'Blood and Thunder' as well as Erik Larson's 'Devil'. Karen Abbott takes you back to that time. She is among these great talented authors who make history feel like it's all happening as you turn each page and reveals events that are so incredible it's hard to imagine they aren't a work of fiction. Who says history is boring! This book should be read by all and in due time read again.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who Would Have Thought History Could Be So Sexy!,
By
This review is from: Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul (Paperback)
Sin in the Second City is a fascinating read! I cannot remember the last time I found history to be so entertaining! First, let me say that Abbott's history is true. These are real people, in a real place, in real situations. Abbott is to be lauded for her research and sound retelling of the past. My favorite part of the book her characters, and they ARE characters in every sense of the word! Our writer brings them to life in vivid detail and lays out their stories in fashion provocative enough to make the best fiction writers jealous. True stories can certainly be fascinating, but Abbott's writing style and presentation elevate this bit of history to the point of entertainment. It is a tough book to put down! Really, who knew history could be so, so sexy! Personally, I am dying to have the Everleigh sisters over for tea. Oh the tales they could tell! Thank you, Karen Abbott, for bringing so many of them to life!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
time-travel!,
By tattooed drum guy (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul (Paperback)
this book was fantastic! i'll admit i'm a total sucker for a period non-fiction piece of this nature, but this one is the real deal; americana at it's finest. it's packed full of sights, smells, and sounds that helped me really imagine what it would be like to walk the streets of seedy old chicago. i read the devil in the white city as well, but found this book to be a better time machine. it was my in-flight companion for a while and i'd look forward to flying just so i could get lost in the pages again. highly recommended, particularly after learning that this is the author's first book! an absolutely brilliant job by karen abbott. it's rare that i find a book enjoyable enough to purchase and finish, let alone re-read and write a review of, but i can't say enough good things about this one. let's hope there's more where this came from... a.m. seattle, wa
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