According to Paula Uruburu in the newly released paperback American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl, and the Crime of the Century, it was a teenager of near-perfect beauty and a scandalous, salacious true story that started it all.
The Bad Girl of Her Time
One hundred years ago, Evelyn Nesbit's name was a household word and her face the epitome of female beauty, made famous through postcards, advertising, and newspaper pictorials. Regarded as the 'bad girl' of her time, she was actually an innocent teen exploited by her mother and the men who pursued her as she rose to prominence as the nation's first pin-up girl and media celebrity.
Ripped From the Headlines
Nesbit's tale is filled with same elements of tragedy that we see played out in the celebrity tabloids today: a single parent motivated more by money than concern over her daughter's well-being; a world of glamour and fame, physical luxury and emotional abuse; advisers and handlers acting from their own ulterior motives; and a well-publicized life of ongoing crisis and scandal.
Intead of 'The Glove,' a Red Velvet Swing
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl, and the Crime of the Century tells much of Nesbit's tale from her point of view, drawing from her own published accounts of a scandal in which she figured prominently.
OJ's trial has nothing on Nesbit, whose own courtroom testimony in a case involving jealousy, murder, sadism, abuse, statutory rape, madness, New York high society -- and an infamous red velvet swing -- had the whole world watching.
More than just a guilty pleasure, it's an impressively-researched pop culture history lesson delivered by a writer with the passion of a diehard Nesbit fan and the credentials of a university professor of English.
Need more convincing to add this to your summer reading list? Read my full review (link below) and see how many stars I gave American Eve.
Recommended reading: American Eve Book Review
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