Woman of Ill Fame [Paperback]

Erika Mailman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007

Looking for a better life, Nora Simms sails from the East Coast to gold rush San Francisco with a plan for success: to strike it rich by trading on her good looks. But when a string of murders claims several of her fellow women of ill fame, Nora grows uneasy with how closely linked all of the victims are to her. She must distinguish friend from foe in a race to discover the identity of the killer.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Erika Mailman lives in Oakland, California, where she writes a newspaper column focusing on local history that has run for seven years. Her novel The Witch's Trinity is forthcoming from Random House in fall of 2007.

Product Details

• Paperback: 257 pages
• Publisher: Heyday Books; Trade paperback edition (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597140511
• ISBN-13: 978-1597140515
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #942,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, February 5, 2007

By 

bookfan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woman of Ill Fame (Paperback)

This is one of those start-in-early-afternoon and-read-til-5 AM books. And I had to be at work the next day. The historical atmosphere is so rich, and the main character Nora is such a treat, you just don't want to come back to modern times. Talk about a woman who defies every stereotype of the prostitute yet feels like a real lady from Gold Rush times. I was shivering in my seat as the tragedies kept creeping closer to the protagonist. The leading man also defies every stereotype. Take Peirce Brosnan and go to the opposite pole, and that's the guy we fall in love with, and for precisely that reason. Highly recommended!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the more fun books I have read this year., February 4, 2007

By 

Oscar R - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woman of Ill Fame (Paperback)

I have been reading Erika Mailman's history column in the Montclarion newspaper for years and have always enjoyed her attention to historical detail as well as her topics of Oakland history. I picked up a copy of this book and read the whole thing in two sittings...a record for someone with such a short attention span. Her characters are (properly) likable and dislikable. The historical details that she weaves in the story do not come off as a dry history lesson, but as details of the story that she is telling. I certainly have a new understanding of the way Gold Rush SF really was rather than a simple blanket view of what we usually read about or see on TV.

Anyone with an interest in California history would certainly be doing themselves a favor by reading this book. Very well done.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this sassy, salty book!, February 7, 2007

By 

E-squared in San Francisco (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woman of Ill Fame (Paperback)

I just finished reading this novel and I really loved it! The author did an amazing job -- combining history, sex, feminist consciousness, and a mystery to boot! Brava! Brava!
Her salty, sassy language reflects the Barbary Coast of San Francisco from a gutsy woman's point of view.Is there a dictionary of such words that is particular to the era? It was funny/exactly right/ perfectly descriptive. Anyway, I loved the book -- already lent it to a friend (who also loved it), and have another bawdy friend I want to buy it for.