Madam by Debby Applegate

November 29, 2022

Madam by Debby Applegate

A biography of Polly Adler, notorious New York madam, as much a history of New York City in the first decades of the 20th century as a biography. Polly started out as a nice Jewish girl from Russia who came to America alone as 13 year old Perle, seeking the golden land. After working a series of low paying jobs (such as factory worker and seamstress), Polly realized that she wanted more and the fastest way to get there was by opening a brothel. Polly was known for having some of the most beautiful prostitutes in New York working for her.

The book is well-researched and an astonishing number of famous writers, actors, and politicians, as well as gangsters, were friends, clients, and associates of Polly. The book is very long and there is a little too much detail about Polly's many, MANY addresses around New York, as well as the number of times she was interviewed by the police, which could have perhaps been summarized (such as, "In 1935, Polly was interviewed by the police about Dutch Schultz at least 15 times."). But it was an interesting biography about an independent self-made businesswoman and author who is virtually unknown today. She wrote a book called A House is Not a Home that was made into a movie - Shelley Winters portrayed Polly in the film.

Polly Adler at her most glamorous