The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld (Digital Original)

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Synopsis
The &“raunchy, hilarious, and thrilling&” true story of the incomparable Norma Wallace, proprietor of a notorious 1920s New Orleans brothel (NPR). Norma Wallace grew up fast. In 1916, at fifteen years old, she went to work as a streetwalker in New Orleans&’ French Quarter. By the 1920s, she was a &“landlady&”—or, more precisely, the madam of what became one of the city&’s most lavish brothels. It was frequented by politicians, movie stars, gangsters, and even the notoriously corrupt police force. But Wallace acquired more than just repeat customers. There were friends, lovers . . . and also enemies. Wallace&’s romantic interests ran the gamut from a bootlegger who shot her during a fight to a famed bandleader to the boy next door, thirty-nine years her junior, who became her fifth husband. She knew all of the Crescent City&’s dirty little secrets, and used them to protect her own interests—she never got so much as a traffic ticket, until the early 1960s, when District Attorney Jim Garrison decided to clean up vice and corruption. After a jail stay, Wallace went legitimate as successfully as she had gone criminal, with a lucrative restaurant business—but it was love that would undo her in the end. The Last Madam combines original research with Wallace&’s personal memoirs, bringing to life an era in New Orleans history rife with charm and decadence, resurrecting &“a secret world, like those uncovered by Luc Sante and James Ellroy&” (Publishers Weekly). It reveals the colorful, unforgettable woman who reigned as an underworld queen and &“capture[s] perfectly the essential, earthy complexity of the most fascinating city on this continent&” (Robert Olen Butler).
Copyright:
2000

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
288 Pages
ISBN-13:
9781497658509
Publisher:
Open Road Media
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Chris Wiltz
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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