“Do you know why most of us are here? Because we’ve been betrayed by the men who wanted to enjoy the pleasure of our company, who lead us down the primrose path, promising to defend our reputations, to marry us, but then abandon us because they’re engaged or married to someone else. Then they claim they’ve never known us (…).”
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mysteries and Thrillers, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Domestic violence, mentions death, sexual assault, suicide, and drug abuse.
“The Lives of Diamond Bessie” follows the story of Annie Moore, a woman in the 1860s who, after getting pregnant out of wedlock, is sent to a convent to pay for her sins and not bring shame upon her family. After giving birth and having the baby taken away from her by the nuns, she runs away in hopes of being reunited with her daughter. With no references, she can’t find a decent job and is left with no other option but to resort to prostitution. This is essentially what’s given to us by Jody Hadlock through the book’s description, but I must say this isn’t even one-eighth of the story.
You build so many preconceptions about what will happen in this book based on its summary… and then Jody takes them all and rips them apart. Annie, Elisabeth, Bessie, you were such an amazing character, such a resilient woman. Once you learn why they call her Diamond Bessie, you’ll be devastated and hoping it’s all a dream or some kind of premonition.
This book is very fast-paced, and maybe to a reader that enjoys extensive details and narrative it may seem like it skips through some steps. I think it was paced differently from other books I’ve read, and so I enjoyed it very much.
I would recommend this book to any reader who thinks sex work is real work (because it is) and to readers who like historical fiction and true crime.
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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
andrea's galley 