Unabridged, 9 CDs, approximately 11.5 hours, read by Joyce Bean

Synopsis:
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 destrict at the dawn of the twentieth century, the club's proprietors, Minna and Ada Everleigh, welcomed moguls, actors, senators, foreign dignitaries, and literary icons into their stately double mansion, where thirty stunning Everleigh "butterflies" awaited their arrival.

Rival madams hatched numerous schemes to ruin the Everleighs, 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." This furor shaped America's sexual culture and had repercussions all the way to the White House. With a cast of characters that includes John Barrymore, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., William Howard Taft, and Al Capone, and a dramatic last stand between brothel keepers and crusading reformers, Sin in the Second City offers a vivid snapshot of America's journey from Victorian-era propriety to twentieth-century modernity.

Reserved to send to msjoanna for the BookObsessed Good Fairy relay.

"There are no good girls gone wrong - just bad girls found out." (Mae West)

"If it weren't for married men, we couldn't have carried on at all, and if it weren't for the cheating married women we would have earned another million." (The Everleigh sisters)

"Every girl, if only she knew it, is sitting on her fortune." (Madame Nell Kimball's aunt Letty, a retired courtesan)

This was an interesting read/listen. I think Minna and Ada would have been a hoot to have a spot of tea with. In a time when women had few options for independence, these two sisters took the world's oldest profession to a new level and created a brothel that all the big names wanted to enter. Opposed to prostitution or not, there is no arguing that these women had a good sense of business and how to make money. It's also interesting that they managed to make so much money on something that their patrons could purchase anywhere and did it while maintaining a strict sense of decorum (for what that's worth) and ensuring a safe, healthy environment for their "butterflies."

I liked the book. I wish I had read it in print in order to see the photos (you can see some of them on the author's site and on the Amazon "see inside this book" page), but there are many sites online with history, pictures, etc., of the Club, the sisters, and the politicians, evangelists, and crusaders of the time.

I found it interesting that the problem with buying and selling women and children into sexual slavery was so rampant at that time; I would normally think that this didn't become such a huge issue until later in the century. How naive of me, I suppose.

Here are some links about the Everleigh Club, the author, etc.:

*The Everleigh Club (Chicago Tribune)
*Karen Abbott Chicago Times interview
*PBS article: Ada and Minna Lester
*The Chicago Cubs/Everleigh Club History
*The Golden Age of Chicago Prostitution (from Freakonomics.com)
*Karen Abbott

Oh, great. I'd totally forgotten this one was coming. I'm excited to have this!

An enjoyable read, but nothing special. There was no spark to this story, despite the interesting subject matter. Somehow, I always felt distant from the players here and never got fully pulled into the story. It didn't help that the reader had a fairly serious tone throughout. During patches of dialogue, the reading brightened, but too much of the reading was more somber. Recommended for those with a particular interest in Chicago history or history of brothels, but not really a general interest nonfiction read I'd recommend.

I agree the book might have been better read in print to see the photos and get a better sense of the look and feel of the club.