This highly researched novel follows the life of Sadie Orchard, a real historical character, born Sara Jane Creech in Mills County, Iowa, in 1859. Sadie chose a path of prostitution, but little is known of her early days. In 1886, she moved into Kingston, New Mexico Territory, speaking with a British accent and claiming to be from the Limehouse district of London. Within a year, Sadie had her own brothel on Virtue Avenue. Outrageous stories about about Sadie, and some historians consider it plausible that she conspired with another woman and employed dynamite in an attempted murder. However, in many ways, Sadie might argue that she stayed on Virtue Avenue all her life. She ad her girls helped raise money to build a church and tended victims of smallpox. Sadie married J.W. Orchard, owner of an express line, and became one of the few women to drive a stagecoach. A friend of the actress Lillian Russell, Sadie also counted territorial governor William Thornton and politician Albert Fall among her friends. Harper Courtland weaves the myths and known details of Sadie's life, adds an element of the supernatural, and lets Sadie fill in the rest. If you find things in this story hard to believe, remember that, above all else, Sadie was a liar.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.