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| Madam Belle
ISBN: 9780813147086
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / The University Press of Kentucky
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: Brothels; Prostitutes;
Horse racing enthusiasts and Bluegrass State history buffs are the target audience for historian Walls (How Kentucky Became Southern) latest foray into the seamier side of late-19th-century Kentucky. Taking the local madam Belle Brezing as her focal point, Wall explores changing concepts of morality in Lexington by concentrating on the intersection of vice and legitimate businesses, particularly in horse racing. This ordinary woman approach can yield fascinating historical insights, but here the emphasis on local history negates the storys potential for a wider appeal as does the fact that little is actually known about Belle. No diaries, letters, or interviews survive, leaving Wall with such a dearth of biographical material that the main character is a mere shadow. A pretty woman with a head for business, Belle took up prostitution at age 19 and opened her own establishment two years later in 1881, quickly becoming the most successful brothel operator in the city. Wall suggests that Belles life intersected with broader historical trends and issues, such as anti-prostitution campaigns and temperance, but fails to follow through, leaving Belle stuck in Lexingtons past. Walls book works as a narrow slice of local history, but those looking for the big picture will be disappointed. Illus. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Maryjean Wall served as the turf writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader for twenty-five years. The author of How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders , she holds a doctorate and is an instructor in the Department of History at the University of Kentucky. |
