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, USA.
Madam Belle contributes new information and historical context to
one of America's most famous, or infamous, madams. Wall shows how
changes in Lexington and the horse industry during Brezing's era
allowed her to seize this business opportunity in a way that other
madams were not able to do before or after her time."" - Tom Eblen,
Lexington Herald-Leader.
""Wall's captivating study of Kentucky's most famous madam will
take readers back to a lively time in Lexington's history. A
biography of Belle Breezing was long overdue, and this is a good
one."" - Jamie Nicholson, author of The Kentucky Derby: How the Run
for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event and Never Say
Die: A Kentucky Colt, the Epsom Derby, and the Rise of the Modern
Thoroughbred Industry.
""A well-told tale that adds context and perspective about the
red-haired madam's place in the power structures of both Lexington
and the horse industry."" - Tom Eblen, Lexington Herald-Leader.
""Maryjean Wall sheds new light on the tantalizing true story of
vice and power in the Gilded Age South as told through Miss Belle's
notorious life."" - Alan W. Petrucelli, The Examiner.
""Wall has achieved the almost impossible. This engaging biography
comes as close to revealing the life of Belle as is possible."" -
Decatur Tribune.
""[T]he fascinating true story of vice and power in the Gilded Age
South."" - Florida Weekly.
""Belle Brezing is the ideal protagonist.... [A] captivating tale
of whores and horses."" - Wayne Curtis, Wall Street Journal.
"" Madam Belle: Sex, Money, and Influence in a Southern Brothel is
a finely crafted, fast-paced, fascinating regional historical
biography certain to have widespread appeal to both nonfiction and
fiction readers."" - The Midwest Book Review.
"" Madam Belle is a delightfully charming scholarly work of
genius."" - Southeastern Librarian.
""Wall tells a story laced with sex, intrigue, and power to show
the way public morality, urban growth, and economic expansion
intersected in the Gilded Age South. [...] More than a simple
biography, Wall provides an urban economic and political history of
Lexington that explores elements of reform, economic growth, and
business practices. Written in an accessible manner, this book is
well worth the time of any reader interested in the history of
prostitution, Kentucky, or the Gilded Age South."" - Register of
the Kentucky Historical Society.
""[... ] What Wall does brilliantly is write a biography of Madam
Belle by placing her life in context, piecing together a jigsaw
puzzle of what is known specifically about Brezing with what is
known about Lexington and her many acquaintances at the time. [...]
Madam Belle is as much a biography of one of Lexington's most
infamous residents as it is a history of Lexington, Kentucky."" -
Tennessee Libraries.
""[...] [Wall] weaves a fascinating story that combines urban
history, women's history, political history, economic history, and
the history of sports, all focused on Lexington, with side stories
usually related to the people who came to the Lexington area
because of the horses.
[...] Wall provides an interesting study on one aspect of
prostitution in a small city in the upper South."" - West Virginia
History.
""Maryjean Wall's book, Madam Belle, is full of amusing anecdotes
and diverting digressions about the characters who inhabited the
Lexington, Kentucky, underworld in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Ostensibly about the legendary madam Belle
Brezing, Wall also offers a view into the world of Bluegrass horse
culture, enlightening the reader about thoroughbreds, trotters, and
the men who made their money on them. [... ] [T]here are many fun
and fascinating threads here, and Madam Belle makes for
entertaining reading."" - Ohio Valley History.
""[T]he character portrayals were excellent. We get a clear picture
of Madam Belle's family life, of her daughter and some of the
people around her, especially some of the more important men with
whom she may have been involved."" - Fallon Willoughby, Bowling
Green Daily News.
""Wall's research also offers an unexpected history of Bluegrass
horse culture; horse racing defined Lexington, and the descriptions
of the sport's history [...] provide a unique regionalism to the
study.
[...] By intertwining the life of Belle Brezing with the changing
landscape of the city of Lexington, Wall's book also offers
significant insight into the moral shifts from the Victorian era to
the Progressive era.
[... ] [A] new, vibrant addition to the history of gender, work,
brothels, and Gilded Age life in a small city struggling to define
itself."" - Journal of Southern History
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