Madam

A PLUME BOOK

MADAM

©Shawn Barber Photography

CARI LYNN
is a journalist and the author of four books of nonfiction, including
The Whistleblower: Sex Trafficking,
Military Contractors,
and
One Woman’s Fight for Justice
with Kathryn Bolkovac, and
Leg the Spread: A Woman’s Adventures Inside the Trillion-Dollar Boys’ Club of Commodities Trading
. She has written for numerous publications, including
O, The Oprah Magazine
,
Health
, the
Chicago Tribune
, and
Deadline Hollywood
. She has taught at Loyola University and received a master’s in writing from Johns Hopkins University. She currently lives in Los Angeles. This is her first novel.

©Anthony Masters

KELLIE MARTIN
was nominated for an Emmy for her work as Becca Thatcher on
Life Goes On
, appeared for two seasons as Lucy Knight on
ER
,
and played the title roles in
Christy
and
Mystery Woman
. She also has written, produced, and directed for television. She serves as national spokesperson for the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association and owns the online children’s boutique ROMPstore.com. She graduated with distinction in art history from Yale University. She lives in Los Angeles and Montana with her family. This is her first novel.

Praise for
Madam

“If you are enthralled with New Orleans and the history of its fabled red-light district, this is the book for you. The evocative characters lovingly created by Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin made me wish Storyville was resurrected and rollicking with harlots and madams today.”

—Patti LuPone, actress, singer, and author

“
Madam
is a fascinating re-creation of New Orleans at the end of the nineteenth century, when the churchgoing politicians and power brokers of sin created Storyville. An absorbing peek into the hidden history of the city and her most famous madam.”

—Loraine Despres, bestselling author of
The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc

“Lynn and Martin tell the story of their protagonist’s rise to fame and fortune without piousness, sentimentality, or apology. Thorough research, convincing detail, and true-to-life characters make this a spellbinder of a novel. The reader can almost smell the sweat of the johns and the fragrance of rose attar and shrimp gumbo. The characters’ words roll off their tongues like molasses in August.”

—Roberta Rich, author of
The Midwife of Venice
and
The Harem Midwife

“Love the history they wouldn’t teach you in school? Then open up Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin’s
Madam
. It’s a gritty, well-researched story of how Storyville, the largest legal red-light district in the United States, came into being.”

—Lois Battle, bestselling author of
Storyville
and
War Brides

“I encourage you to accept this invitation to escape into the boudoirs and back alleys of nineteenth-century New Orleans and leave behind our modern world for a spell. Kellie and Cari have vividly resurrected a world that most of us have never seen up close, and it’s quite a ride!”

—Danica McKellar, actress and
New York Times
bestselling author

“
Madam
delivers a world rich with details and visuals of a time and place long forgotten in our history. If you liked
Memoirs of a Geisha
, you will love following Mary on her harrowing journey to become an infamous madam in a New Orleans red-light district.”

—Melissa Joan Hart, actress and author of
Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life

“With brilliant, immediate language and fascinating detail,
Madam
jelly-rolls us through a gritty 1897 New Orleans underworld, and allows us to cheer as a sweet young prostitute fights all odds to become one of its great madams.”

—Jennie Fields, author of
The Age of Desire

“
Madam
is an utterly enjoyable and fascinating read! It’s a story of a true underdog, Mary Deubler, who overcomes adversity while making history in New Orleans during the turn of the century. I found myself rooting for our protagonist from the very first page. Kudos to Mary and to Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin!”

—Ricki Lake, actress, host, and producer

“An odyssey through the underworld and the spirit world of New Orleans,
Madam
is layered in rags and silks and voodoo visitations. This is a story of desperation turned inside out. Power holds court in back rooms and bedrooms but reaches its full potential in the heart and mind of a young prostitute whose prize possession is a pair of striped stockings she plucked from a rich woman’s trash. This book manages to wrap transformation in sensuality and historical detail, and set the whole thing to the sound of ragtime.
Bien joué!
”

—Rita Leganski, author of
The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow

“As rich and evocative as New Orleans jazz, Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin evoke a time and place with tantalizing detail, transporting the reader to a world hidden not only by the past, but also by the very society that created it.
Madam
is a wonderful portrait of an indelible figure.”

—DeLauné Michel, author of
The Safety of Secrets

“Set in the vivid, visceral world of New Orleans in the late 1800s,
Madam
follows a young prostitute’s desperate struggle to survive, thrive, and ultimately achieve self-empowerment in the face of hugely challenging circumstances. With plenty of sex and liquor to go around, Kellie and Cari’s debut novel does a stellar job of capturing the essence of what it really means to face our fears and overcome extreme adversity. Cheers to the first real madam!”

—Hillary Fogelson,
Los Angeles Times
bestselling author of
Pale Girl Speaks: A Year Uncovered

PLUME

Published by the Penguin Group

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First published by Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 2014

Copyright © 2014 by Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

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REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Lynn, Cari.

Madam : a novel of New Orleans / Cari Lynn, Kellie Martin.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-14-218062-4 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-101-63475-2 (eBook)