| Title | : | Shady Ladies: Nineteen Surprising and Rebellious American Women |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0765308274 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780765308276 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published August 8, 2006 |
Suzann Ledbetter has researched and written about American history for almost twenty years. The depth of her work is reflected in these well-crafted and enormously entertaining biographies of little-known---till now---Shady Ladies. Some were crackpots, some criminals, some charlatans, some genuine talents, but almost all have been sadly forgotten.
Unsung though they may be, these defiant women challenged post-Victorian society in an era when females were second-class citizens. They are every bit as intriguing as their more famous sisters. Who knew Harriet Hubbard Ayer and her cosmetic concoctions predated Helena Rubenstein, and that Ayer virtually invented the newspaper advertorial?
Photographs of Lydia Pinkham were the first photos ever used in advertising. A century after her death, modern science has confirmed that her black cohosh--laced elixir is a viable treatment for menopausal symptoms.
"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" was coined by Fanny Fern, aka Sara Parton, who, unlike the better-known Nellie Bly, became the highest-paid newspaper columnist in the country. And Laura Fair was as dangerous to men as Calamity Jane ever was . . . and faced up to the Supreme Court no less.
Shady Ladies is the story of early American rebels and a fascinating view of the lives of seventeen notorious and notable women. Suzann Ledbetter chronicles the exploits of feminist pioneers, bringing them to life with humor, empathy, and meticulous research.
Shady Ladies: Nineteen Surprising and Rebellious American Women Reviews
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I got this book as it was referenced in a podcast episode on Lydia Pinkham and I thought it sounded interesting. Needless to say, I know why this was $5 on Amazon now. 🤪
I have more critiques than praise for this book which I hoped would have more promise. The overly flowery writing made the mini biographies convoluted and difficult to understand. I am SHOCKED the author has had multiple books published because hooooly cow. It took some mental gymnastics for me to understand her point at all.
I would also say, “shady” is liberally used. Yes there were some ladies who fell in the camp follower (and the like) category so it’s very surprising to also find women who trail blazed their paths to reputable business women, doctors, etc in one book. 😅
The saving grace is that some women were genuinely fascinating and it’s a shame the writing couldn’t tell their stories better.
Don’t read this if you want to learn about some cool women for kicks and giggles.
Sorry, not sorry. 🤷🏻♀️ -
I really enjoyed the stories of these rebelliously autonomous women, despite the muddled delivery.
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Quite naturally, we tend to hear about women who had staggering or groundbreaking achievements rather than those whose stories were not quite as groundbreaking or "important". Ledbetter has chosen 18 lesser known women and one well known ("Unsinkable Molly Brown) and related their stories--and what stories! I tend to forget, based on overbearing opinions of recent feminists, that women throughout history were able to make their own way and make a difference at times; we just don't hear about them much because their stories are a bit harder to trace. I can't imagine trying to live some of these lives. Would I have been brave enough to trek alone to the Yukon? Or challenge a woman to a duel? Still be coherent after 18 months of involuntary commitment in an insane asylum of the early 1900s? Probably not. These women did so much more than this and managed to influence the world in their own ways.
The author does a much better job when basing the quick biographies on either solid facts or tall tales. A life for which exists some information (particularly if it may be contradictory) seems to confuse the author and thus confuses the reader. Still a worthy book but not quite as good as I had thought when I was about halfway through it. -
This book was full of women I've never heard of and women I wanted to hear all about, and it seemed so promising. Unfortunately it lacked good editing, felt more like a huge Wikipedia article (or articles, I guess), and wasn't that interesting or engaging. I finished it but ONLY because I hate to be a quitter.
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Only a few of the 19 women from Victorian America were women of ill repute. But all of them were independent, unconventional, and unwilling to let a world stacked against them get in their way. Some were doctors, some were businesswomen, some were lawmakers, some were pioneers - but they all struggled long and hard, and were all absolutely awesome. I'm planning on buying it, it's that good.
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The writing is choppy and lacks clarity. The author uses far too many trite phrases. There are some interesting tidbits, but overall, this makes for ponderous reading.
The bibliography is fairly extensive, good for further research. -
It's sad when a good story isn't told well. The stories are interesting but the writing seems to be for the era of the subjects, not today's audience. For example, sex trafficking is called "white slavery" but the copyright is 2006. Huh?
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I like this book. It focuses on 19 famous (or infamous) women from history and the author has a great sense of humor.
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American history
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This book has ladies with very interesting lives. I just think it could have been more interesting if it was written more in story form. It seemed very much like I was reading a text book.
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Really enjoyed these small chapters entailing adventures and general lives of some truly incredible women.
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Some of these stories were interesting, but I think I was expecting a more notorious kind of shady.
