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Karen Abbott

Goodreads Author

Born

Philadelphia, PA, The United States

Website

https://karenabbott.net

Twitter

KarenAbbott

Genre

Nonfiction, History, Crime

Member Since

March 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/karenabbott

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Karen Abbott is the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul, American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, and, most recently, The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz- Age America, named an Amazon best book of the month for August 2019. She has written for newyorker.com, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, Salon and other publications. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Why did you feel it necessary to glorify immorality and seduction in your book: Liar, Soldier, Temptress, Spy?

Karen Abbott History is rife with immorality and seduction, including in the Bible! It’s not my job to whitewash history, but to convey it as it happened, warts an…moreHistory is rife with immorality and seduction, including in the Bible! It’s not my job to whitewash history, but to convey it as it happened, warts and all. Thanks for reading.(less)

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How do you select what person or topic to write about. Also how do you go about finding resources? I have read both Liar , Soldier, Temptress, Spy and Ghosts of Eden Park and I enjoyed both. Also had the privilege of hearing you speak at the Friends of the Library in Daytona Beach. Any new books you are currently working on?

Karen Abbott Hi Karen,

Thanks so much for reading—I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my books! And how lovely that you came to hear me speak; I hope I did not disappoint.

I’…moreHi Karen,

Thanks so much for reading—I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my books! And how lovely that you came to hear me speak; I hope I did not disappoint.

I’ve gotten my ideas in a variety of ways. I’d say the most interesting one is the story behind my first book, Sin in the Second City. My great-grandmother and her sister immigrated to the U.S. from Slovenia in 1905. One weekend, the sister went to Chicago and was never heard from again. I’ve always been intrigued and haunted by this bit of family lore, and I began researching Chicago in 1905. Very quickly, I came upon a sensational news story: Marshall Field Jr., son of the department store scion, was shot in a brothel—the most lavish and exclusive in the world, run by two enigmatic sisters who had dreams of “elevating” their profession. Of course, I forgot all about my missing ancestor and became enthralled by these sisters and how this bizarre story played out during the Progressive Era (a wild ride in and of itself).

As for research materials, I cast the net far and wide. One of the first places I look is WorldCat.org, which is basically an online reference service that lists books, archives, and government files from libraries and archival repositories all over the world. I found the trial transcript for The Ghosts of Eden Park through World Cat.

As for my current book, it will be announced shortly! It’s a story of mystery and intrigue set in the Galapagos Islands at the dawn of World War II. The title: THEN CAME THE DEVIL. I’m very excited to begin working on it. I’m also working on a novel—hopefully, I’ll be able to sell it! Writing fiction requires a different set of skills, so we’ll see.

Thanks again for reading, and be well…

Abbott (less)

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Karen Abbott’s books

Average rating: 3.65 · 38,900 ratings · 5,008 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War 3.75 avg rating — 15,277 ratings — published 2014 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul 3.62 avg rating — 12,601 ratings — published 2007 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America 3.70 avg rating — 5,474 ratings — published 2019 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee 3.41 avg rating — 5,548 ratings — published 2010 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Novel Methods and Pathways in Cancer Glycobiology Research (Volume 157) (Advances in Cancer Research, Volume 157) by Charles J Dimitroff (Editor), Karen Abbott (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Karen’s Recent Updates

Karen Abbott answered Barbara Hirsch's question: Thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. Our public library in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin has two large griffin statues, complete with a red light in their crown, that have been in Oconomowoc for over a hundred years. It is our understanding that they were purchased by Charles Kohl when the Everleigh Club was about to close. The problem with that is that he died in 1910. Are you aware if griffins guarded the Club? Hi Barbara! Thanks so much for reading SIN IN THE SECOND CITY and for taking the time to write to me. My apologies for my belated reply; I’ve been busy working on my next book, a tale of mystery and murder set in the Galapagos Islands in the 1930s (i See Full Answer
Jun 15, 2021 05:26PM · 2 likes · like

Karen Abbott answered Barbara Hirsch's question:

Thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. Our public library in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin has two large griffin statues, complete with a red light in their crown, that have been in Oconomowoc for over a hundred years. It is our understanding that they were purchased by Charles Kohl when the Everleigh Club was about to close. The problem with that is that he died in 1910. Are you aware if griffins guarded the Club?

Hi Barbara!

Thanks so much for reading SIN IN THE SECOND CITY and for taking the time to write to me. My apologies for my belated reply; I’ve been busy working on my next book, a tale of mystery and murder set in the Galapagos Islands in the 1930s (i See Full Answer

Jun 15, 2021 05:26PM · 2 likes · like

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Quotes by Karen Abbott (?)

“Leave the fireworks for those who cast no spark of their own.”
― Karen Abbott, Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul

tags: awesome, chicago, inspirational, whores

39 likes

“It is so delightful to be of enough consequence to be arrested,”
― Karen Abbott, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

13 likes

“An amusing city, Chicago, any way you look at it. I'm afraid we are in for the time of our lives.”
― Karen Abbott, Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul

8 likes

See all Karen Abbott's quotes »

Polls

Time to vote on our first Nonfiction book of 2021...

This book will be open to read for the months of January and February 2021.

This poll will remain open until close of day on December 12th.

Be sure to get your vote in...

A Bookshop in Berlin

by Françoise Frenkel

11 votes, 27.5%

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

by Robert Kolker

9 votes, 22.5%

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

by Isabel Wilkerson

6 votes, 15.0%

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam

by Pope Brock

4 votes, 10.0%

Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search

by Martin Sixsmith

3 votes, 7.5%

Emergency Admissions: Memoirs of an Ambulance Driver

by Kit Wharton

3 votes, 7.5%

Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In

by Phuc Tran

2 votes, 5.0%

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

by Karen Abbott

1 vote, 2.5%

Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II

by Mitchell Zuckoff

1 vote, 2.5%

Racing to Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society

by John A. Powell

0 votes, 0.0%

40 total votes

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