Leigh Straw

So, Petticoat Parade is, as advertised, a history of the Roe Street brothels in Perth, Western Australia, with a stack of side quests into Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Kalgoorlie, France, and world wars one and two. Plus some fascinating insights into the early days of policing in Australia, and the introduction of women police and how their roles differed from their male counterparts.

At the historical level this appears meticulously researched and has a lot of detail that makes it possible for a local to settle in to the 'where is all this'. The writing itself is a tad frustrating, as it wombles all over the landscape and time period in a highly confusing manner. Some things get mentioned multiple times without explanation (for example the 'Razor Wars' in Sydney, which I have a rough era and location for, but no specific idea as to what it was other than it was associated with organised crime, and a crime boss by the name of Kate Leigh), while others get explained repetitively. I suspect that in some ways it has been written for individual chapters to hold separate from the full text, but as someone who was reading it for general interest not specific, that aspect of the writing made it frustrating to read at times.

Having said that, the writing is smooth and easy to focus on, which is not always the case in rather rambling historical narratives with so many characters and small details.

And there are a lot of endnotes. They are structured in a way I wish more were, in that the specific statement, topic, or person they relate to is provided in bold, potentially some additional context, and then the reference. This makes reading the additional context much easier as well.
The author's note is long, but has a lot of references. I'm faintly interested in going hunting for their three books on notable eastern states women (two criminals and a cop), including one on the above mentioned Leigh.

There is a lot of text dedicated to giving some general context, so there are references about what was happening in the war years, Australian politics, and other assorted historical events. I wish that more writers did a bit of this. Not the 'you should now this high level detail' such as the 'and then the German [role] [name] ... political thing', but the more specific and contextually relevant, such that the French town that Madam Monnier came from had been an important shipping port pre-WWII, and how its closure affected a raft of things.… (mehr)

"Angel of Death" offers insight into the Australian underworld during the first half of the 20th century by tracking the life of Dulcie Markham. Markham was notorious for her involvement in prostitution, sly grog and other criminal activities and was featured in the media at the time due to her incredible beauty and involvement (often peripheral) in multiple murders and acts of violence; hence the badge "Angel of Death". This is a well researched, well-paced, honest look at the life of the women who lived and worked in the city slums of the day. Interesting and worth a look.… (mehr)