When 16-year-old Annie finds herself in a convent in Buffalo, NY after being pregnant out of wedlock, she knows she must escape. After they take her baby away from her immediately after birth, Annie makes the decision to leave as soon as possible.

After Annie’s successful escape, she goes to Watertown, NY, a place far enough from Buffalo and the grasp of the Sisters at the convent. There, Annie collapses on the street and ends up residing in a joy house (aka, a brothel). As the Madame lets her reside there for a few weeks, Annie does have to make the tough decision to work there or find a job elsewhere. Quickly, Annie makes the tough choice to begin work as a demimondaine, a high-class prostitute.

This career provides Annie, who goes by the stage name of “Bessie”, with the independence and economic freedoms that are only afforded to demimondaines at the time. Annie makes a good reputation for herself, allowing for houses all over the country to let her stay there and work, providing for a decent amount of traveling and business.

As she begins to long for a husband and to leave the business, she becomes involved with Abe, a man with devious intentions for the money and jewels she has earned for herself. When Abe’s true intentions show themselves, “Diamond Bessie” becomes well known across the country.

This book was AMAZING. I could have easily read it in one sitting, and it was a little painful for me to have to put it down. I learned a lot about America’s brothels out West this summer on my road trip, so being able to read about the brothels and joy houses on the East Coast was so interesting to me! Especially since Watertown is a little over an hour from where I grew up!

The second half of this book also is so masterfully written, I loved the perspective of Annie’s ghost watching the trial.

The Lives of Diamond Bessie
by Jody Hadlock

Expected Publication Date: 05 Apr 2022

Synopsis:
"Pregnant out of wedlock, 16-year-old Annie Moore is sent to live at a convent for fallen women. When the nuns take her baby, Annie escapes, determined to find a way to be reunited with her daughter. But few rights or opportunities are available to a woman in the 1860s, and after failing to find a respectable job, Annie resorts to prostitution in order to survive.

As a highly sought-after demi-mondaine, Annie, now Bessie, garners many expensive gifts from her admirers, and eventually meets and marries the son of a wealthy jeweler. With her marriage, she believes her dream of returning to proper society has finally come true. She’s proven wrong when she suffers the ultimate betrayal at the hands of the man she thought would be her salvation. But Bessie doesn’t let her story end there."

Quote:
"Habitual novel reading leads to nervous disorders, and, in a state of mental intoxication, wayward conduct is sure to follow."

Review:
Inspired by a true story, Hadlock weaves a fascinating historical fiction novel of love and loss. Few careers were available to women during the 19th century and so poor Bessie ends up a prostitute. How she succeeds in that profession is at the heart of this story. Unexpected twists provide betrayal and redemption. You will be cheering on victorious Bessie! Add to your TBR pile - expected publication date, April 2022. Highly recommended.

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I found Bessie’s story fascinating and tragic. Ms. Hadlock pulled me into the story from the beginning and I finished the book in one sitting. The characters came alive in the story -the struggles Bessie faced as a consequence of being a “fallen woman” highlighted the lack of choices faced by women in that era. Although I knew the ending I somehow found myself hoping for another outcome. Oh and the ghosts…an interesting way to bring the reader to the conclusion.

Thanks NetGalley and Sparkpress for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Based on the true murder of Diamond Bessie, the author gives us her story and what leads up to her murder. It is fast paced and gives us a glimpse into 19th century life for a woman. There is some paranormal license which adds to the story.

Thank you netgallery for letting me read this wonderful book.
It kept me up reading late into the night and the surprising change of direction in the middle kept me hooked until the end. I would recommend this book and look forward to reading more books from this author.

You can tell the depth and heart that has gone into both the writing and researching of this incredible novel.
An historical insight into what life was like in the 1800s for the demi-mondaines and the incredible character that is Diamond Bessie.

The novel follows the plight of Annie a disgraced unwedded woman whose hardships. struggles and determine shine through in her determination to seek the justice that she deserves.

A reflective and thoughtful novel of times.

"She was pretty as a picture. Her auburn hair, French twist, contrasted handsomely with her large blue eyes. Her lovely complexion and graceful form would have tired the heart of an Italian sculptor..."

If there is one word I could choose from the dictionary to describe Jody's latest, it has to be TERRIFIC. Words fail to explain the tumultuous change in my emotions as I travelled page after page.
Annie Moore, a resident of Canton, and descried as the fallen woman, credits to her pregnancy out of wedlock is faced with no choice after her escape from the sisters but fall into prostitution.
Moving forth, she lives an extravagant life like no other, switching her boards from Watertown till Chicago. Except, fate leads her marriage to the heir of an opulent ménage and she can't help but look forward for the life that lies ahead with ecstasy overflowing. What follows after one big betrayal forms the crux of the story.
God! Her writing, the unwavering keep of enigma surrounding the setting, and her appreciable ability to never leave the readers off the hook, and not using any unnecessary cliffhangers are all what makes this story stand out.
In addition to being an unputdownable thriller, tear jerker, and page turner, with paranormal shades, there were things that drew me to this book with ease.
The first has to be the light thrown over demi-mondaines. With every line that went forward, I couldn't control the fury rising within, as Jody put, over the double standards of the society. And yes, this is the truth. A courtesan pawns her body, to men who do dirty things, for the money she gets back. But through the whole thing, the fury to get out always stays in her soul. She has always sold her body, but never her soul. She has never been dirty. It's the people who think her that.

"We're accused of inviting our downfall. Men pay us attention, flatter us, and before we know it, we're living in the sewer of society. They come in and say, "Oh, it's a pity you are in such a place. Is there no way to quit it?" When they are the ones who put us there "

The next needs a definite mention. This book handled women's equality quite well, showing us their plight in the 19th century America where most of them were made to believe women only belonged in kitchen's and behind a man. It stressed on the need for women to stay independent, rather than being treated as a man's puppet. And Jody pushes this impressively by showing the different shades of men that we come across through the novel, and as it progresses, you know well who treats a woman well, values her position in the society, and sees her as another human being.

"A man though he owned a woman the minute she became his wife. I had been on my own, in control of my life, more independent than most women. "

Excellent descriptions, wonderful characterisation, and as I mentioned earlier, a gripping mystery. Jody knows well to mix the lead with the readers, for as you progress, you find your emotions syncing with hers, becoming Bessie through the story, reflecting her emotions, her revolts, her conscience, and her decisions.
This book taught me a lot more lessons, in addition to the truth, the justice, and how the decisions we make affect the way our life moves. It also stressed within still further that regretting over a past long last will act the roadblock to a bright future that lays ahead.
A mesmerizing, seraphic, pure read from Jody didn't stop the tears from rushing, and I cried long enough, unable to bring myself out of the trance Bessie put me in.

Thank you NetGalley for this brilliant arc of Jody and adding her to my must read authors list

This was my first book to read by this author but I cannot wait to read more! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Such a great story and fast read. Highly recommend!!!

The lives of Diamond Bessie is a inspired true story of Annie Moore also known as Diamond Bessie, who was pregnant out of wedlock at sixteen year of age and was sent to a convent for fallen women. When her daughter is taken away from her by the nun's, Annie is forced to escape and make a life for herself, so she can reunite with her daughter. But due to less job opportunities given to women in the 1860's Annie is forced into prostitution to survive with a dream to live a respectable life with her daughter one day.

The lives of Diamond bessie is a well written book by debutant author Jody Hadlock and one can relate to it easily as it is a story that one must have heard and read before because I strongly believe that such stories even exist today. This is a well researched book and the author has tried to keep the story as real as possible.

I believe that one should go into reading this book blind to enjoy it to its fullest as I never saw the twist coming. Though the second half of the book is all the more interesting than the first half as I really liked how the author continued to tell the story through Bessie eyes rather than through a third person. This was sure hard to put down and kept me hooked till the end. I will surely recommend this book and I would also love to see this book made into a movie in the near future.

Thanks to Netgalley, sparkpress and author Jody Hadlock for the ARC.

The Lives of Diamond Bessie by Jody Hadlock is based on a true story and I very much enjoyed the blend of fact and fiction in this novel. At times heartbreaking, there was an element to this book that was very unexpected but I thought it was executed well and I would recommend this book to historical fiction lovers!

There were elements of this book that I enjoyed but have to admit that it missed the mark for me .I found the first half of the book rather mundane and dull and was about to give up on it when the characters Bessie was killed and her life as a ghost began giving me a further spark of interest and the change of writing style kept me invested in the story until the end
The author has fallen into the trap of trying to fit too much of the real history of the characters who were based on extensive research into the book .on one hand this means the book feels historically accurate and the story is fixed well at this particular stage in American history .The other thing this extensive research has done is make you feel like you are reading a story which is trying too hard to include as much as possible of the real facts in the book .I would have preferred to have read more character development and more of why the murder happened ..
I don’t read book blurbs before I review preferring as much as possible to come at a book fresh .Because of this I was not expecting the ghost element to the story ,it came just when I couldn’t see much further for the story to go and as I said earlier did extend my enjoyment .I woukd have preferred more of this element to the book to have been introduced earlier on

The Lives of Diamond Bessie started very well and I loved the way Jody Hadlock writes. The story surrounds the life of a girl called Annie, later to become known as Bessie, when she turns to prostitution. The book is set in the 1800s, when women were treated very badly and disrespected if they were unmarried and having love affairs. Many of them were forced into prostitution, particularly unmarried mothers. Jody Hadlock has obviously researched the subject well and makes several references to real life publications relevant to the theme of the lack of women’s rights historically. I was so intrigued by her references in fact, that I went on to research them myself.

Half way through the book however, the plot took a dramatic turn, at which I struggled to come to terms with. Until then, the genre had been a mixture of romance and intrigue, with a spat of historical facts. Now, it was murder, court proceedings and hauntings, all told from the point of view of the ghost of the murdered woman.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the second half of this book I’m afraid and actually struggled to finish it. I just couldn’t get my head around there being a parallel world where ghosts can become friends and live together.

At the end of the book, it becomes clearer why Jody chose to write it the way she did, when she explains her inspiration for the book, which is indeed interesting. I’m not sure however, that she might not have been better just telling the story and how it inspired her, rather than using so many plot twists to get her ideas across.

I enjoyed reading this book and quickly became immersed in the story. There were parts of it that simply didn’t ring true to me, but other parts struck me as being quite authentic representations of the time. Just when you think you’ve reached the end of the book, well… it doesn’t end. I appreciated how the author was able to continue the story even after the momentous event!
I think many readers will read this with great interest and it will leave them thinking about the parallels to our own times.

The first two thirds of this book provided a fascinating look into the difficult life and choices that women in the 19th century had to make and might have been a book that could be used for a women's history class. However, once the court case portion came into the book, the concerns of women and their lives was pushed to the side. Because of this shift in focus, the last third of the book dragged and was far less interesting. The focus should have remained on Bessie instead of the capture of her killer.
The other problem with the book is in the last portion of the book when the speech of the Black maid is written when she gives her testimony. This practice of overuse of apostrophes and dropping g's is old and outdated writing practice from the mid-twentieth century. There are better, smoother, more elegant ways to bring Black speech across without this kind of violent otherization. The author is a debut author, which might explain this problem, but the editors and copy editors of this book should have corrected this racist depiction. The fact that this horrific depiction got through so many gatekeepers does not speak well for this particular publisher and casts a problematic shadow on this debut author and her intentions for Jennie's character.

Absolutely loved this book! I did NOT expect anything that happened and was pleasantly surprised. I love how the book immediately pulled me into description and would suggest everyone read this