Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History, Health, Fitness & Dieting
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History, Health, Fitness & Dieting
Book Type: Paperback
Helpful Score: 5
Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for Americas Soul is an exciting look inside one of the most famous whorehouses in America, the Everleigh Club in early 20th-century Chicago. The book is a non-fiction work that reads like fiction, weaving the tale of how Minna and Ada Everleigh moved into Chicagos Levee district, determined to change the face of whorehouses, with how the Levee ultimately meet its demise.
The Everleigh sisters were madams who wanted to ensure that their girls, the Everleigh Butterflies, were honest, clean, and elegant. They wanted true courtesans, so they provided the girls with weekly doctor visits, etiquette training, lessons in Balzac, and the ability to leave the Club any time they chose. Shortly after opening its doors, the Club had a waiting list of harlots and a clientele list that was carefully vetted by the sisters. The men were expected to behave themselves, so, the Club quickly became famous for catering to the elite, with customers such as John Barrymore, Marshall Fields Jr., and Prince Henry of Prussia.
Unfortunately for the Everleigh sisters, though, the early 20th-century also brought about the Progressive Era reformers. The book describes the challenges facing the Levee, in general, and the Everleigh Club, in particular, as Ernest Bell went on his anti-white slavery crusade, as Congress passed The Mann Act of 1910, and as Chicago politicians who once provided protection to residents and businesses in the Levee were pressured to shut the district down.
Karen Abbot presents a well-research and well-documented look at this interesting period of Chicagos history. She manages to keep the facts lively, making for a readable, historical account. Abbot also provides photographs of the various rooms of the Everleigh Club, as well as of the Cast of Characters in this saga, which helps add to the successful recreation of the atmosphere, the excitement, and the mystery surrounding the period, the Levee, and the Everleigh sisters.
The Everleigh sisters were madams who wanted to ensure that their girls, the Everleigh Butterflies, were honest, clean, and elegant. They wanted true courtesans, so they provided the girls with weekly doctor visits, etiquette training, lessons in Balzac, and the ability to leave the Club any time they chose. Shortly after opening its doors, the Club had a waiting list of harlots and a clientele list that was carefully vetted by the sisters. The men were expected to behave themselves, so, the Club quickly became famous for catering to the elite, with customers such as John Barrymore, Marshall Fields Jr., and Prince Henry of Prussia.
Unfortunately for the Everleigh sisters, though, the early 20th-century also brought about the Progressive Era reformers. The book describes the challenges facing the Levee, in general, and the Everleigh Club, in particular, as Ernest Bell went on his anti-white slavery crusade, as Congress passed The Mann Act of 1910, and as Chicago politicians who once provided protection to residents and businesses in the Levee were pressured to shut the district down.
Karen Abbot presents a well-research and well-documented look at this interesting period of Chicagos history. She manages to keep the facts lively, making for a readable, historical account. Abbot also provides photographs of the various rooms of the Everleigh Club, as well as of the Cast of Characters in this saga, which helps add to the successful recreation of the atmosphere, the excitement, and the mystery surrounding the period, the Levee, and the Everleigh sisters.
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