Shady Ladies: Nineteen Surprising and Rebellious American Women

by Suzann Ledbetter

Suzann Ledbetter has researched and written about American history for almost twenty years. The depth of her work is reflected in these well-crafted and enormously entertaining biographies of little-known---till now---Shady Ladies. Some were crackpots, some criminals, some charlatans, some genuine talents, but almost all have been sadly forgotten.
Unsung though they may be, these defiant women challenged post-Victorian society in an era when females were second-class citizens. They are every bit as intriguing as their more famous sisters. Who knew Harriet Hubbard Ayer and her cosmetic concoctions predated Helena Rubenstein, and that Ayer virtually invented the newspaper advertorial?
Photographs of Lydia Pinkham were the first photos ever used in advertising. A century after her death, modern science has confirmed that her black cohosh--laced elixir is a viable treatment for menopausal symptoms.
"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" was coined by Fanny Fern, aka Sara Parton, who, unlike the better-known Nellie Bly, became the highest-paid newspaper columnist in the country. And Laura Fair was as dangerous to men as Calamity Jane ever was . . . and faced up to the Supreme Court no less.
Shady Ladies is the story of early American rebels and a fascinating view of the lives of seventeen notorious and notable women. Suzann Ledbetter chronicles the exploits of feminist pioneers, bringing them to life with humor, empathy, and meticulous research.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Biography, American History, Adult

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2006

About the author

Fifteen or twenty minutes of intense Website surfing suggests that biographical segments are usually devoted to former vocations, titles published and awards won. The latter two categories seem redundant to additional electronic buttonry labeled Book List, to homepages advertising current tomes, and mentions elsewhere of honors bestowed, humbly received and treasured in perpetuity.

As for the former, having not been gainfully employed in return for weekly paychecks since 1976, I assume a brief, intervening stint as a water-filled shoe insole salesperson doesn't rank right up there with the legions of doctors-, lawyers-, educators-, captains of industry-, or CIA operatives-turned-scribes.

Second to vocational pursuits are avocations, which for others range from gardening, needle-arts, molecular biology and NASCAR fanatacism to scuba-diving, astronomy, world travel, and running for miles absent a pack of rabid wolves snapping at one's heels.

The fiction writer in me yearns to invent hobbies of that ilk, as one would attribute to a novel's protagonist to make him or her interesting. The nonfiction side advises the truth, or an interpretation of it based on available research. My inner humorist struggles to keep a straight face.

Henry David Thoreau disparaged the unexamined life as unworthy of sustained respiration. Valid or not, I'll give it a whirl . . ..

When I'm not writing or speaking about writing, I'm either reading, or asleep. I adore my husband and most of the time, our children. Our basic 3bd./2 ba. home is shared with two greyhounds, two fat, hirsute cats and thousands of books--the majority shelved and probably having a scoliotic effect on the floor joists and foundation.

At work or during recess, I drink too much coffee, alternating with room-temperature Cokes slugged straight from the bottles. Caffeine, for me, is its own food group and when focused on what I'm writing, suffices for the chewable variety I'm too distracted or lazy to prepare. Habitual meal-skipping isn't recommended, but in theory, should be a literal lean cuisine. Alas, it is not.

Finishing a book, fiction or non-, induces a compulsion to rearrange the furniture. Or move. Why, I'll leave to mental health professionals. I suspect it seems easier to Dumpster the crap accumulated over the longish haul and transport items dear to my heart somewhere new and unsullied, than to clean what months of neglect hath wrought.

All in all, I suppose sedate is a nice term for this life as lived and breathed. From an exterior perspective, boring might be more appropos. An observer couldn't comprehend any better than I can explain what it is to ply a keyboard and metamorphose into whomever I want--real or imagined--residing wherever I so desire, in whatever era I choose. For richer, for poorer, for better, worse and downright tragic, until deadlines do us part.

If life and a livelihood get any better than that, I'm not aware of it. Nor, upon fleet examination, would I trade a minute of mine for someone else's better paid, cooler, infinitely more exciting and nutritious one.

In many respects, being a writer is a job, like any other. Except it isn't what I do. It's who I am.

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book as it was referenced in a podcast episode on Lydia Pinkham and I thought it sounded interesting. Needless to say, I know why this was $5 on Amazon now. 🤪

I have more critiques than praise for this book which I hoped would have more promise. The overly flowery writing made the mini biographies convoluted and difficult to understand. I am SHOCKED the author has had multiple books published because hooooly cow. It took some mental gymnastics for me to understand her point at all.

I would also say, “shady” is liberally used. Yes there were some ladies who fell in the camp follower (and the like) category so it’s very surprising to also find women who trail blazed their paths to reputable business women, doctors, etc in one book. 😅

The saving grace is that some women were genuinely fascinating and it’s a shame the writing couldn’t tell their stories better.

Don’t read this if you want to learn about some cool women for kicks and giggles.

Sorry, not sorry. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Jillian S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the stories of these rebelliously autonomous women, despite the muddled delivery.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite naturally, we tend to hear about women who had staggering or groundbreaking achievements rather than those whose stories were not quite as groundbreaking or "important". Ledbetter has chosen 18 lesser known women and one well known ("Unsinkable Molly Brown) and related their stories--and what stories! I tend to forget, based on overbearing opinions of recent feminists, that women throughout history were able to make their own way and make a difference at times; we just don't hear about them much because their stories are a bit harder to trace. I can't imagine trying to live some of these lives. Would I have been brave enough to trek alone to the Yukon? Or challenge a woman to a duel? Still be coherent after 18 months of involuntary commitment in an insane asylum of the early 1900s? Probably not. These women did so much more than this and managed to influence the world in their own ways.

The author does a much better job when basing the quick biographies on either solid facts or tall tales. A life for which exists some information (particularly if it may be contradictory) seems to confuse the author and thus confuses the reader. Still a worthy book but not quite as good as I had thought when I was about halfway through it.

[Beth Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

These biographies of women you've (mostly) never heard of are fascinating. I was enthralled by these little-known characters. I have two quibbles with the book - one small, one larger. The small gripe is that the title is dumb. You can't change the meaning of shady ladies to make it be about rebellious or enterprising women, as opposed to prostitutes. My second gripe is the editing of this book is pretty dismal. While Ledbetter's bios are overall entertaining, she is apparently averse to commas (as is her editor), she uses vocabulary that detracts from the story (strawbossing, roman a clef), and she used long run-on sentences with convoluted clauses. So, 4 stars for bios, 2 for title and editing.

[Annagrace · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was full of women I've never heard of and women I wanted to hear all about, and it seemed so promising. Unfortunately it lacked good editing, felt more like a huge Wikipedia article (or articles, I guess), and wasn't that interesting or engaging. I finished it but ONLY because I hate to be a quitter.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only a few of the 19 women from Victorian America were women of ill repute. But all of them were independent, unconventional, and unwilling to let a world stacked against them get in their way. Some were doctors, some were businesswomen, some were lawmakers, some were pioneers - but they all struggled long and hard, and were all absolutely awesome. I'm planning on buying it, it's that good.

[Callee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is choppy and lacks clarity. The author uses far too many trite phrases. There are some interesting tidbits, but overall, this makes for ponderous reading.
The bibliography is fairly extensive, good for further research.

[Jen Stapleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's sad when a good story isn't told well. The stories are interesting but the writing seems to be for the era of the subjects, not today's audience. For example, sex trafficking is called "white slavery" but the copyright is 2006. Huh?

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book. It focuses on 19 famous (or infamous) women from history and the author has a great sense of humor.

[Carrie]

American history

[Darla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has ladies with very interesting lives. I just think it could have been more interesting if it was written more in story form. It seemed very much like I was reading a text book.

[Tori]

2009- Some of the stories were interesting, but the writing wasn't very well done. And some of them were quite short.

[Hayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed these small chapters entailing adventures and general lives of some truly incredible women.

[Adrienne Kiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were interesting, but I think I was expecting a more notorious kind of shady.