They say it's oldest profession . . .

One of the books I read this past month was Karen Abbott's "Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul"

This was a fantastic book. Even though everything was taken from historical documents and first person accounts, this book reads like a novel. The book mainly revolves around the famous/infamous Everleigh Club and the ruling madams Ada and Minna in Chicago's red light district. These sisters wanted to have the ultimate house of pleasure, where the girls were treated well, paid well, and only the best clients could enter. Although few things are definite about their lives before Chicago, they certainly knew what they were doing.

On the flip side was the ministers and temperance seekers. The Everleigh Club represented everything that was wrong with American society and it became their mission to have it shut down and the whole district with it.

While the Everleigh Club was the best and Ada and Minna treated their girls well, they were the exception. Most houses were full of abuse, neglect, drugs, and slaves. Because the law looked the other way many young girls and women were traded and treated like property. And while Abbott goes to great lengths to describe the abuses that went on in these houses, she shields the Everleigh Club from any negative images. You can tell she has grow to care about these women and as you read their story you forget that they run a brothel and start to root for them.

This is an excellent book and a great summer read. If you are interested in reading "Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul" by Karen Abbott, you can find it at Barnes and Noble or your local library.