The Unstoppable Eliza Haycraft
Eliza Haycraft escapes an abusive husband in Missouri’s river country with only the clothes on her back. She travels to New Orleans and then to St. Louis, where she must survive on her wits and good looks. Eliza turns to the oldest profession and ultimately becomes a powerful, land-owning madam in antebellum St. Louis.
Eliza, an actual historical figure, was illiterate, leaving neither a diary nor letters, giving author Dempsey a lot of room to imagine her rise to notoriety beyond the bare facts of newspaper accounts and entries at the Recorder of Deeds. Historical research brings alive St. Louis’ Great Fire of 1849, immigrant-driven tensions, mainly German and Irish, and the city’s divisive struggles with the institution of slavery. Eliza’s first-person account portrays her as savvy and courageous, and confident in her decisions, like when she elects to stay after her first night in the “bawdy house” rather than to struggle and battle starvation: “For I feel the same as ever and I will do the same things again when called upon and there it is.” Female characters are central to Eliza’s story, some rivals and some in her inner circle, and they are well-drawn. As she rises in the bawdy trade, Eliza’s character is painted with good business sense—her father gave her a ‘head for numbers’—and philanthropic sensibilities.
While this is a lengthy read, the writing moves the story along at a nice clip with well-developed scene after scene, and presents Eliza’s poignant reflections on various contemporary topics, like the horrors of slavery and her inner conflict about remaining neutral on the question for the sake of business appearances. A very enjoyable historical novel rooted in a rags-to-riches tale from a relatively unknown corner of St. Louis history.
