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American Magdalene: The Life Behind the Scandalous Book Madeleine: An Autobiography
Paperback
Literary CriticismSexualityWomen's Studies
ISBN13: 9781476698014
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Published: Nov 11 2025
Pages: 203
Weight: 0.62
Height: 0.47 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
This work reexamines Madeleine: An Autobiography, a controversial bestseller first published in 1919 that documented the pseudonymous author's life as a sex worker in the United States and Canada in the late nineteenth century. It reconstructs the life behind the text through historical photographs, a lost epilogue from the 1924 edition, newly uncovered interviews, and the author's own family history. Written in a time when these experiences were both common and often erased, the autobiography also reveals the dark realities of female labor, prostitution, motherhood, and survival.
More than a recovery project, this book contextualizes Madeleine: An Autobiography within the cultural and political forces that shaped its creation, censorship, and legacy. It examines how the book was banned, debated, and defended in a climate of moral scrutiny and how its author's voice persisted. As it reveals the truth behind the original text, this work speaks to the broader issue of who gets to tell their story and whose stories are allowed to be heard.
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