Storyville

by Lois Battle

The story of two very strong yet opposite women surrounded by sin, seduction, and sex is set in Storyville, a New Orleans hot bed for temptation

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Romance, Adult, Southern, Book Club

435 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, pg 60-some. Because I just don't care. The prose is dry & distant with bookclub emoz that are obv meant to appeal to readers who like a certain style of women's fic narrative--but that style doesn't interest me at all. At least Frank Yerby's GIRL FROM STORYVILLE had life to the narration, an author's passion that bled through despite the depressing plot & a heroine you'd have gladly strangled. This? Nope. I feel nothing whatsoever. 😶

[Paula Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. This story depicts the early days of prostituiton and the red light district of New Orleans before it was deemed illegal. The way that Lois Battle creates a story line which has the world of the well off and the not so well off crossing lines and interacting with one another is great. Prostitution, women's rights, and women taking a stand for their own rights was great to embrace.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prostitution has been a contentious issue for civilization,but it has not always been illegal and long ago it was even sanctioned as part of sacred religious rites.Courtesans have played an active if generally behind the scenes part in the course of history. Shifting attitudes nevertheless have never held sex workers in high regard. Even when it is legal,that very status brings its own restrictions.

Storyville was the ghetto in New Orleans where brothels were legal and sex work was a viable choice for women with limited options. LB is our guide, skillfully outlining the moral issues that make it complicated to determine the best course. Lively and well paced, by the time we have followed our main characters to their ultimate destiny, we may not have changed our postion on this important issue, but we will have gained an understanding of all sides.

[Aimee Massey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, still love it. The characters are very well-drawn and complex. The settings are vividly described.
Kate is only fifteen, but already she's run away from home with a slick traveling salesman, been seduced and abandoned by him and finally is essentially sold by a crooked milliner to a brothel. Her good looks and relative innocence make her a hot commodity, but the madam she's sold to is a seriously bad piece of work, into voodoo and other ugly business. Luckily, another girl helps Kate escape to the house of Queen Mollie Q, a madam with a heart of gold as well as a head for business. There, through skillful management and training, Kate (now called Katherine) becomes the star of the Storyville red-light district.
Julia Randsome is a Boston aristocrat married to New Orleans native Charles Randsome. Julia loves Charles dearly but has never been able to adjust to the New Orleans lifestyle. She is frugal, industrious, socially conscious and more concerned with genuine morality than with the mere appearance of same, all traits that mark her as an outsider. Plus, she has to put up with her mother-in-law, Carlotta, a ruthless, manipulative and almost deliciously evil woman who will do anything to embarrass and hurt Julia. So when Julia plans to start a petition demanding that Storyville be dismantled, Carlotta informs her that the Randsome family owns several highly profitable brothels. Julia is furious at the revelation, and also angry with herself for never having asked Charles about the family's financial assets. The issue drives a wedge between the couple.
Things get even more complicated when the Randsomes' son, Lawrence, comes home from MIT for a brief vacation before enlisting in the military to fight in the Spanish-American War. Lawrence is Julia's pride and joy, having inherited her idealism and work ethic. Neither Julia nor Lawrence is prepared for what happens when a childhood friend of Lawrence's takes him to Mollie's house for a going-away present. The present is an evening with the beautiful new girl named Katherine.
The romance between Kate and Lawrence bothered me a bit. The characters truly believed they were in love, but cynic that I am, I had some trouble with it myself. Kate was the first girl Lawrence had ever been with, and so it wasn't surprising that he would become attached to her. The fact that she was beautiful and something of a sad case added
to her appeal for him. For her part, Kate was surely drawn to him because he was close to her own age, kind-hearted and inexperienced. I didn't question that they cared for each other, but I knew in my heart it wouldn't, couldn't, last very long. They were far too different, from wildly different backgrounds and educational levels, and Lawrence, like his mother, was sometimes blinded by his own idealism; he hadn't yet learned that good intentions aren't always enough.
Lawrence and Kate spend a passionate week seeing each other, which Lawrence runs himself ragged trying to keep hidden from his mother. But the dreadful Carlotta doesn't miss a trick, and she confronts Lawrence on his last night home, deliberately making sure that Julia can hear their conversation. Julia is crushed and enraged and refuses to discuss it with Lawrence; she refuses to even see him off the next morning. She also is angry with Charles, blaming his ownership of the Storyville properties (including Mollie Q's) for Lawrence's behavior. She tells Charles that she does not want to see either of them again.
Julia's rash rejection of her son comes back to bite her when Lawrence dies in Cuba. His friend brings her Lawrence's belongings and among them is a letter Lawrence had been writing to Kate. Julia sets out to find Kate and discovers that the girl is pregnant. She chooses to believe the baby is her grandchild, but Kate, Mollie and the readers know it is the child of Kate's salesman seducer. Julia takes Kate in and they go back to Boston to live with Julia's parents.
Kate gives birth to her daughter Christabel there, but after a few months realizes she will never truly belong in Boston and that she deeply misses Mollie. She leaves Christabel with Julia and runs away, back to Storyville.
Years pass and Kate eventually becomes a madam, and then Storyville is shut down and she's on her own. The pace of the book accelerates quickly till it's 1943, and Kate has returned to New Orleans to oversee the opening of a women's museum in the Randsome home, a museum Kate herself has financed on the condition that Julia's "daughter" Christabel attends the opening.
Kate sees that Christabel is a happy, well-balanced and productive woman, and this comforts her greatly.
Wonderful story, even if the love affair did seem doomed from the start. Highly recommended.

[Graceann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel of life in New Orleans' fabled red light district at the turn of the last century came perilously close to failing the 50 Page Test, but once it picked up, I was unable to step away from it. I found myself grateful for a bout with insomnia, because it allowed me to find out what happened to the characters.

Kate is a lost lamb, abandoned in New Orleans by a sweet-talking gent. Like so many of her time and gender, she finds her options severely limited, and ends up in a house in the Storyville District - a section of New Orleans set aside for the legal operation of brothels. In a parallel story, Julia Randsome is a fish out of water. She is a Boston Yankee who fell in love with a southerner and moved to New Orleans to be with him. She is a poor fit in this town, with her modern ideas and her ability to be punctual. The two stories have connections that were at times surprising, and almost always interesting.

The relationship between Julia and Charles Randsome was especially interesting to watch. Here are two people who love each other deeply, and continually find themselves at cross purposes. They are actually seeking some of the same things, and if they would sit down and have a quiet conversation, they would find their center and move forward together. I suspect any couple with a relationship of long duration will recognize the behaviors in which they engage, even if the subject matter is different. Throw in a mother-in-law who is pure evil (a character whose death I spent much time actively wanting - actually, I didn't just want her to die; I wanted her to be killed), and you've got a perfect storm of never-healed hurts, wounded egos, and just plain subterfuge.

I don't know anything about Storyville as it truly existed, so I can't tell you if Lois Battle's research is accurate or not, but it all certainly sounded plausible, and made for an excellent story. I wasn't overly thrilled with Battle's "War Brides" or "Southern Women" when I read them, but I'm so glad I gave her a third chance. This was a good study of social mores in a previous era, and an even better exploration of the delicate dance that takes place in relationships.

I've read other reviews where the reader was disappointed with the ending, and I respectfully disagree. I think "Storyville" ended logically and in a way that didn't play into the reader's expectations. I suspect I might have been a bit annoyed if the book had had the finale I predicted, because it's something I would have recognized from so many other novels.

A final note for those who are deciding whether or not to read this: It is a story which, in significant part, discusses prostitutes and personal relationships, and some of the descriptions of the acts that take place are explicit. Sex was a daily part of their lives, and it's not ignored here. While I thought it was handled tastefully, your assessment may differ in the extreme.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of two very different women living in 1880s New Orleans. Innocent Kate - seduced by a rake and abandoned - turns to a life of prostitution to support herself. She wins the heart of the wealthy son of a distinguished New Orleans family. Meanwhile, transplanted Boston blueblood, suffragette Julia, has just discovered that her husband Charles owns brothels in Storyville, the prostitution district of New Orleans.

This severely damages their marriage through Julia's bitterness and lack of trust. Eventually, tragedy adds another dimension to their domestic squabbling; then Julia befriends the luckless Kate and comes into her own as a activist for women's rights. I liked this story very much, although I did think that it was a little slow for me to get into at the beginning. I give it an A+!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really really liked this book. I almost loved it. I wasn't expecting much; I had bought it as a library castoff at a book sale, and I've had it for years. It was exactly what I love in a book - rich believable characters (LOVED Billy Shakespeare and Beatrice Ravenal), no cheesy plot lines -but yet it was not so intellectual that it lost my interest. I felt like Battle's characters came alive to me - one of my favorite characters being the setting itself, New Orleans and the Storyville district. I felt transported to the early 1900s every time I read it. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the ending was extremely disappointing.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The well told story of a woman who arrives in Storyville (New Orleans' legal red-light district) as a beautiful 15yo innocent abandoned by the man who seduced her and promised to marry her. As she learns the ropes she becomes acquainted with a father and son of New Orleans' old aristocracy, with life-changing results for all of them and their family as well as other city residents. Engaging and enjoyable.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness I loved this book!!!! The end was kind of a disappointment compared to the rest of the novel... BUT, blahblahblah I am gonna start a book blog about my new "reading project" where I'll talk about this book, and all the ones to come. So once I get it set up, go there to read about Storyville, OR, check it out yourselves ;)

[Book Concierge · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's the late 1800s in New Orleans and "the district" has been legalized thanks to Alderman Storey. The plot is weak; the last chapter moves several decades forward. The characters are not well-developed. I think the author was trying to commend the women for their foresight, business acumen and independence ... but then again ... Basically this is a poorly crafted soap opera.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a fun read and I had great expectations as I started the book. The history component was pretty well referenced but some areas were a bit vague and by the time the ending showed up I was getting a little bored. I didn't like the ending either. After all, if the story was to be a bit cheesey, why not have a cheesey ending to?

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely engrossing

This is not t be missed. Historic (and in such a rebellious setting), one we never learned of in school), mindful of class and race and southern culture, yet also of world history and women’s suffrage...with ALL that, still, a wonderful tale woven of women in the period, and sympathetic to their plights. Magical.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book grabbed me in a way I never thought it would. Not my type of book really, being set in the old days, but, New Orleans and the red light district is appealing to me. could NOT put this down, and I can put books down. My favorite book.

[Linda Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book off the shelf. No other review by "friends" so not at all sure why I have it. Entertaining but predictable tale set in a much loved city.

[Carolyn Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good historical novel, could not put it down.

[Kate Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intimate story digging into the layers of stigma, judgement, culture, love, loyalty, and loneliness of women in different layers of southern American society.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historical fiction set in New Orleans set at the turn of the century. New Orleans' elite, upper class follow their own rules, but they are still Americans - they value wealth and title/name/prestige over all. Julia, a liberal and wealthy suffragette from Boston, marries Charles Randsome for love. She moves into the Randsome mansion, which includes its matriarch - and it goes without saying that these two have a rough relationship. She and Charles have two children, and they lead loving lives that are often separate, until Julia finds out that the Randsome family owns property in the District, which is rife w/ prostitution. Julia and Charles' son Lawrence is coming of age; on a night on the town with his friends before leaving for the Spanish War, he meets and falls in love with one of these prostitutes, to grave consequences.

**spoiler alert**
There was much about this book that didn't work for me. Would Kate really leave her baby and go back to prostitution? I wasn't convinced - I think Julia would eventually have found something for her that she could tolerate or even enjoy with all of her connections. Further Kate generally hated the life, despite how good she was at it. It was a bold move - to portray a woman who had an out and who didn't take it - and I think it could have worked, I could have been convinced if it were handled differently. I also found the prices of things to be off - Lawrence asked for a couple hundred bucks, and his mom just gave it to him?! Seriously? $100 dollars in 1898 is ~3.5k now! I also didn't find it believable that Julia and Charles never made up.

What this book does have going for it is the fact that it is a page-turner; I tore through it, despite my annoyances. The characters were interesting, esp the women.

[E.D. Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not entirely convinced that this is in fact a solid four-star book, maybe more like a 3.5, but it's about New Orleans and I'm biased. I will read--and like--almost anything set in New Orleans. Some of Battle's descriptions of the city and its people were pure poetry; the sex scenes, on the other hand, were so detailed in their descriptions I thought briefly that I might be reading lady-porn. Except it wasn't hot? Just kind of embarrassing? Thankfully, there weren't too many of those scenes, despite it being a book about prostitution.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read set mostly in New Orleans and some in Boston during the time New Orleans had a legalized prostitution area called The District, from 1898 - 1917, Storyville brings together a well-to-do old New Orleans family (the Randsomes) and a young woman (Kate) abandoned and pregnant at 15 who ends up in 'the life'. Mixing love, sex, early feminism, old cultures and the inevitable changes brought by time, this is an easy way to lose oneself in the turn-of-the-century south.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Historical fiction - New Orleans legalized prostitution between 1878 and 1917 in Storyville (or as the locals called it - The District). This story centers on two women - one a young girl who entered the District at age 15 and the other a society woman who tried to help. Good read

[Pandy Kahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the story Battle tells and to hear it from different character perspectives. I found the descriptions of The District houses, with the music and people, intriguing. I'd like to read more about the city's history now. I found it challenging to get through the beginning but I devoured the second half. There was a lot of background we needed to create the setting and build momentum.

[Suzanne Skelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about life in the "red Light district" of New Orleans in the late 1800's.

Follows the life of two young women - one still in her teens when she arrived in Storeyville. How she came to be there in the first place, How she started to work there , the demise of the "district" and what kept drawing her back there.

[Susan Beecher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining novel about late 1800s New Orleans and a young prostitute. Well developed characters.

[Tex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely (lovely?) story about the beginning and end of The District known as Storyville in New Orleans through the eyes of one of "the girls".

[Mary Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected. A little information on New Orleans and The District. Sounded like New York's and Boston's Districts. Storyline was predictable.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some interesting characters and the overall plot is interesting, but the author tends to go on and on with side stories that are really boring!

[Candy Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, historical picture of New Orleans.

[Carol DAloisio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this and had a hard time putting it down. Loved the richly developed characters and find myself missing them. Wonderful glimpse of life in New Orleans at the turn of the century for both society and those making their livelihood through legalized prostitution.

[Kimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less about Storyville itself and more the drama in the lives of two women. Written very well, but otherwise just sort of mediocre. Would have expected Storyville itself to play a larger role.

[Darlene Chrest-Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Historical Fiction