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Looking For Lizzie: The True Story of an Ohio Madam, Her Sporting Life and Hidden Legacy
A closely-held family secret hinted at long ago, leads an amateur genealogist to uncover an end-of-the-19th-century scandal centered on her 2nd great-grandmother. Rural Ohio is the unexpected setting for a 30-year crime spree, where Madam Lizzie Rogers-Lape-Huffman-Larzelere-DeWitt-DeWitt-Veon-Shetler-France lived life large. Born in pre-Civil War Kentucky, she retired from the sporting life in Chicago; resurfacing with executive zeal in Ohio cities and towns such as Columbus, Dayton, Lima, Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Canton, Norwalk, Shelby, Stow and Marion. In Marion, her disreputable establishment, The White Pigeon saloon and adjacent house of ill repute, were frequented by a young Warren G. Harding. She may not have changed the course of Presidential history, but Lizzie set the train careening. A simple tale of a woman franchiser in a man's market, Lizzie's story of con, cunning and charm upends preconceptions about exploitation, entrepreneurship and powerful women in early America. Lizzie was full of surprises. And the newspapers were there to sell it. * "Debra Lape's 'Looking for Lizzie' is a magnificent and subversive study in Americana, part of our history that has been too long hidden away, now restored to us in all of its ambiguous glory. If you love the Ohio novels of Dawn Powell, if you want to experience America with all of the challenges that it presented to an ambitious 19th century woman, this will be a revelation." Tim Page - Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, editor and biographer * "I loved this story! Resolute gumshoe Debra Lape has unearthed an arousing tale of an ill-famed Midwest madam of long ago who just happened to be perched high on her family tree. Lape tells all, as she amazes and delights with brassy characters and a stirring familial tale with lessons for today." Chip Bishop - Author of "The Lion and the Journalist" and "Quentin and Flora" * Softcover [Illustrated] * March 1, 2014 * Amazon.com https: //www.facebook.com/LookingForLizzie * https: //twitter.com/Looking4Lizzie https: //plus.google.com/107835120053446661944... * https: //debralape.wordpress.com/ E-mail looking4lizzie@gmail.com Media Kit http: //tinyurl.com/kuka6qs
- GenresNonfiction
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2014
4 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Debra Lape
2 booksAuthor Debra Lape is a business graduate of Cleveland State University and controller in Cleveland, Ohio.
Proving that good stories do in fact grow on trees, her 40-year quest to discover the secret life of her great-great-grandmother, Mid-Ohio madam, Lizzie Lape – led to Deb’s sensational non-fiction book. Her second book, based upon the first-person journal of her own grandmother, young flapper Mary Cable, is another such hidden story in plain sight.
An Akron, Ohio, native, she and her husband Claude have one son Perry and live in Westlake, Ohio.
Proving that good stories do in fact grow on trees, her 40-year quest to discover the secret life of her great-great-grandmother, Mid-Ohio madam, Lizzie Lape – led to Deb’s sensational non-fiction book. Her second book, based upon the first-person journal of her own grandmother, young flapper Mary Cable, is another such hidden story in plain sight.
An Akron, Ohio, native, she and her husband Claude have one son Perry and live in Westlake, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 9, 2014
As an amateur genealogist myself, I enjoyed Debra Lape's exploration of her great-great grandmother's less-than-lily-white life. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the area in which the story is set (mainly Stow and Akron) is the area I live and work at. I only wish that I could find an ancestor quite as badly behaved in my own family tree!
September 6, 2014
I've been looking forward to reading Looking for Lizzie. My own academic work has been on Progressive Era Prostitution in Canton, Ohio, and Marion isn't that far away. (Full disclosure: Debra Lape cites my work in her book). That said, this is a mixed review. I'm really glad Debra wrote this book. There is very little out there on this type of work. Prostitutes madams, etc. in the Progressive Era did not leave first person accounts. The letters edited in The Mamie Papers is one of the few exceptions. So the digging that Debra has done is really amazing. Lizze was a mystery, and due to the limited amount of personal narrative remains, so. We have to accept that. I think this can be a valuable tool for future historians and other researchers.
At times, though, the book is all over the map which I found distracting. Also, Debra, who is not an historian, didn't, to a large extent, didn't contextulize Lizzie' life into a serious discussion of larger issues
But I do recommend Looking for Lizzie to anyone interested in Progressive Era prostitution. Lizzie was an enigmatic, fascinating woman.
I waiver between 3 and 4 stars, but will go with 4 for all the research Debra did. I know how that goes!
At times, though, the book is all over the map which I found distracting. Also, Debra, who is not an historian, didn't, to a large extent, didn't contextulize Lizzie' life into a serious discussion of larger issues
But I do recommend Looking for Lizzie to anyone interested in Progressive Era prostitution. Lizzie was an enigmatic, fascinating woman.
I waiver between 3 and 4 stars, but will go with 4 for all the research Debra did. I know how that goes!
March 9, 2016
I don't know what I expected but it was lots of historical readings .I think if I were more into genealogy it would have held my interest more.
January 10, 2018
I really wanted to love this book. As a genealogy fanatic, the premise obviously interested me. Lizzie's story itself was not to blame, nor was it outright bad writing (although there are a lot of comma issues throughout, which can be distracting. I am also a proponent of the oxford comma!) but despite the obvious effort put into researching the book, it really just fell flat.
The main issue I had is one that plagues many non-fiction books, and it is that in attempting to tell a vivid an interesting story, writer tends to a more fiction-like style, in which they tend to use a lot of conjecture, make a lot of assumptions, and generally ascribe or outright state things that they have no way of possibly knowing, such as feelings, and motives behind actions. This is a continuous problem for the author, who rather than speculating about these things, states them as a forgone conclusion.
Otherwise, the author goes on at length about inconsequential things, which really cluttered the book and made Lizzie's story drag on. She also made some odd and ridiculous statements at times which had me rolling my eyes.
Overall, I just couldn't get past these things and fully enjoy the story, which was unfortunate.
One particular note: I found it extremely odd that the author seemed to either completely skip over or actually miss the implications contained in the one article early on, which stated that a girl who was fifteen was removed from Lizzie's brothel and returned to her parents, after a young man 'left her in charge' of the brothel. It's hard from that small amount of info to draw any hard conclusions, but the possibility of what it might mean was completely left unexplored by the author.
The main issue I had is one that plagues many non-fiction books, and it is that in attempting to tell a vivid an interesting story, writer tends to a more fiction-like style, in which they tend to use a lot of conjecture, make a lot of assumptions, and generally ascribe or outright state things that they have no way of possibly knowing, such as feelings, and motives behind actions. This is a continuous problem for the author, who rather than speculating about these things, states them as a forgone conclusion.
Otherwise, the author goes on at length about inconsequential things, which really cluttered the book and made Lizzie's story drag on. She also made some odd and ridiculous statements at times which had me rolling my eyes.
Overall, I just couldn't get past these things and fully enjoy the story, which was unfortunate.
One particular note: I found it extremely odd that the author seemed to either completely skip over or actually miss the implications contained in the one article early on, which stated that a girl who was fifteen was removed from Lizzie's brothel and returned to her parents, after a young man 'left her in charge' of the brothel. It's hard from that small amount of info to draw any hard conclusions, but the possibility of what it might mean was completely left unexplored by the author.
May 3, 2015
This was an interesting read primarily due to it's ties to a time period that's always fascinated me and folks from the areas I grew up. It is not a literary gem, more a brick in a well built wall of historical understanding of life in turn of the century American life. The author tells you upfront she is it a writer, but an amateur historian and genealogist looking into her own families past. Keeping this in mind helps put the stories and prejudices in her telling in context. Overall, I think she did a great job. I'd love to see the story go one step further with the type of historical fiction put together by someone like Eric Larsen or even Alan Eckert.
Read this for stories on turn of the century everyday life, early women's rights impacts to women out of the national spotlight, Marion Ohio in its formative years, the edges of Warren G Hardings life or the stories of the Madames who didn't make it rich like the Everleigh sisters but just managed to scrape by.
Read this for stories on turn of the century everyday life, early women's rights impacts to women out of the national spotlight, Marion Ohio in its formative years, the edges of Warren G Hardings life or the stories of the Madames who didn't make it rich like the Everleigh sisters but just managed to scrape by.
February 8, 2015
This is the kind of story any genealogist hopes to put together through research, the "hidden family history" that a lot of families come from but will never know. This is thoroughly interesting and engaging, and the development of Lizzie's tree as she moved through life is truly staggering. I also liked the connections the author built outside of Lizzie's personal life to help show the complexities of owning a bordello. The speculated relationship with Warren Harding was particularly interesting.
The one thing that threw me out was Lape's use of copies of actual records as part of the narrative. While these would have worked fine if there had been some translation available, I couldn't read many of them due to "dark" copies and small font so I missed some of the story.
The one thing that threw me out was Lape's use of copies of actual records as part of the narrative. While these would have worked fine if there had been some translation available, I couldn't read many of them due to "dark" copies and small font so I missed some of the story.
October 17, 2014
Interesting historical read.
A thoroughly enjoyable, fully researched narrative about an unusual historical subject. The addition of photographs, maps, census records and such backs up the story well and helps lend authority to the information. I found this a thoroughly enjoyable book and would recommend it to anyone looking for unusual subject matter.
A thoroughly enjoyable, fully researched narrative about an unusual historical subject. The addition of photographs, maps, census records and such backs up the story well and helps lend authority to the information. I found this a thoroughly enjoyable book and would recommend it to anyone looking for unusual subject matter.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews