Sin in the Second City

My mom recommended Karen Abbott's Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul several times until I finally got around to reading it. Abbott's heavily researched nonfiction book is said to read like a novel, a statement with which I would only partially agree. The book chronicles the rise and fall of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history. The club was run by two sisters, Minna and Ada Everleigh, who treated their girls extremely well. The club's prestige was envied by a madam of another brothel in the district and soon came under scrutiny by reformers and ministers concerned with the nation's sexual culture. One of the aspects I found most interesting was the disappearance of young women and the tales of "white slavery" or human trafficking before it had a name. It's an fascinating book, one I rather enjoyed though it took me a long time to finish it. To me, the book wasn't one to devour, but something I slowly nibbled on.