Guest Review: 'Sin in the Second City' by Karen Abbott
Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's SoulBy Karen Abbott
ISBN-10: 0812975995
ISBN-13: 978-0812975994
Paperback, 400 pages
June 10, 2008
Random House Trade Paperbacks
Reviewed by Cynthia Murphy
Karen Abbott’s Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul is a sizzling combination of history, sex, and politics. The setting is Chicago’s Levee district at the turn of the twentieth century. The Levee was Chicago’s infamous vice district. It offered all types of illicit pleasures, including gambling, drugs, and prostitution. Sin in the Second City focuses on the Everleigh Club, a world-famous brothel.
The story starts with a bang- literally. Abbott opens her account of the Everleigh Club with the mysterious shooting of Marshall Field, Jr. in 1905. Field claimed that he accidentally shot himself at his Prairie Avenue mansion. However, rumors persisted that he had actually been shot at the Everleigh Club. As the rumors swirled around them, Minna and Ada Everleigh offered no explanation. They knew that they ran the most successful and respected brothel in Chicago. Their discretion was one of the distinguishing features of their “resort,” and they certainly were not going to compromise their reputation by answering local gossip.
Abbott paints an interesting picture of the Levee at the turn of the century. It was a separate district- a place in which the strict rules of Victorian morality did not apply. Abbott describes in great detail the seedy establishments that lined the Levee’s streets. Most were low-class dives and brothels that posed numerous dangers. In contrast, the Everleigh Club offered a different experience. Its Pullman Buffet offered gourmet foods for both clients and harlots. The Everleigh girls were also the envy of the other girls on the Levee. They were healthy, well-fed, and schooled in the literature of Balzac. The Everleighs carefully screened both their girls and their clients. The Everleighs’ formula worked; they were millionaires in a short time. Their club also had a world-famous reputation.
The Everleigh Club was a symbol of opulence in Chicago. Ada and Minna Everleigh were politically and professionally connected to Chicago’s most powerful men. They drew the envy of other madams on the Levee. More importantly, the Everleigh Club became a symbol in the Purity movement. This movement was designed to stamp out vice. The glamorous Everleigh Club became a target for organizers. Interestingly, the Everleighs did not engage in white slavery like so many other madams on the Levee. Their girls were there by choice. However, the ministers of the Purity Movement either did not know or care about that detail. Closing the club became a mission for the movement.
Abbott portrays the movement on both sides. She takes a journalistic approach to the battle. She also uncovers the real people on each side of the battle. Both the harlots and the zealots are portrayed as individuals. This approach works very well. It maintains the unbiased approach that Abbott establishes at the beginning of the book. This also allows her to explore the amazing cast of characters that passed through the Everleigh Club. The mix of clients and other visitors includes boxers, royalty, politicians, business leaders, and authors.
Sin in the Second City reads like a novel despite its weighty subject matter. The Everleigh sisters are described with exquisite details that make it easy to envision their lives. Clearly, Karen Abbott has done an incredible amount of research. The result is an exciting and fascinating glimpse into the glittering world of the Everleigh Club and the seedy side of the Levee.
The story starts with a bang- literally. Abbott opens her account of the Everleigh Club with the mysterious shooting of Marshall Field, Jr. in 1905. Field claimed that he accidentally shot himself at his Prairie Avenue mansion. However, rumors persisted that he had actually been shot at the Everleigh Club. As the rumors swirled around them, Minna and Ada Everleigh offered no explanation. They knew that they ran the most successful and respected brothel in Chicago. Their discretion was one of the distinguishing features of their “resort,” and they certainly were not going to compromise their reputation by answering local gossip.
Abbott paints an interesting picture of the Levee at the turn of the century. It was a separate district- a place in which the strict rules of Victorian morality did not apply. Abbott describes in great detail the seedy establishments that lined the Levee’s streets. Most were low-class dives and brothels that posed numerous dangers. In contrast, the Everleigh Club offered a different experience. Its Pullman Buffet offered gourmet foods for both clients and harlots. The Everleigh girls were also the envy of the other girls on the Levee. They were healthy, well-fed, and schooled in the literature of Balzac. The Everleighs carefully screened both their girls and their clients. The Everleighs’ formula worked; they were millionaires in a short time. Their club also had a world-famous reputation.
The Everleigh Club was a symbol of opulence in Chicago. Ada and Minna Everleigh were politically and professionally connected to Chicago’s most powerful men. They drew the envy of other madams on the Levee. More importantly, the Everleigh Club became a symbol in the Purity movement. This movement was designed to stamp out vice. The glamorous Everleigh Club became a target for organizers. Interestingly, the Everleighs did not engage in white slavery like so many other madams on the Levee. Their girls were there by choice. However, the ministers of the Purity Movement either did not know or care about that detail. Closing the club became a mission for the movement.
Abbott portrays the movement on both sides. She takes a journalistic approach to the battle. She also uncovers the real people on each side of the battle. Both the harlots and the zealots are portrayed as individuals. This approach works very well. It maintains the unbiased approach that Abbott establishes at the beginning of the book. This also allows her to explore the amazing cast of characters that passed through the Everleigh Club. The mix of clients and other visitors includes boxers, royalty, politicians, business leaders, and authors.
Sin in the Second City reads like a novel despite its weighty subject matter. The Everleigh sisters are described with exquisite details that make it easy to envision their lives. Clearly, Karen Abbott has done an incredible amount of research. The result is an exciting and fascinating glimpse into the glittering world of the Everleigh Club and the seedy side of the Levee.
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