Alice

Memoirs of a Barbary Coast Prostitute

By: Ivy Anderson - editor, Devon Angus - editor

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

The collected memoirs of a 1913 San Francisco sex worker, their effect on society at the time, and where they fit in today’s world.

In 1913, the San Francisco Bulletin published a serialized, ghostwritten memoir of a prostitute who went by Alice Smith. A Voice from the Underworld detailed Alice’s humble Midwestern upbringing and her struggle to find aboveboard work and candidly related the harrowing events she endured after entering “the life”.

While prostitute narratives had been published before, never had they been as frank in their discussion of the underworld, including topics such as abortion, police corruption, and the unwritten laws of the brothel. Throughout the series, Alice strongly criticized the society that failed her and so many other women, but, just as acutely, she longed to be welcomed back from the margins. The response to Alice’s story was unprecedented: 4,000 letters poured into the Bulletin, many of which were written by other prostitutes ready to share their own stories; and it inspired what may have been the first sex-worker-rights protest in modern history.

An introduction contextualizes A Voice from the Underworld amid Progressive Era sensationalistic journalism and shifting ideas of gender roles and reveals themes in Alice’s story that extend to issues facing sex workers today.

©2016 Ivy Anderson and Devon Angus (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Glad I listened

Great book give it a try if you have the time
Alice isn’t a great person but a beautiful human being. I hope she lived a happy life after these letters were published.

Good enough to appreciate the story

Reader was fine except for the many times that she got her voices mixed up. Based on real letters, so can’t really criticize this woman’s memoir. It was not pleasant to hear some of her points of view in the few cases where she passed judgment based on bigotry/religion, but again, her experience in a time, place, and condition in life was very interesting and educational.

Fantastic Book

Wonderful writing and narration. I'm so grateful for the progress women have made over the years.

Great story, bad narrator editing.

The narrator's voice changes in and out with edits that don't match the characters. It takes you out of the story and is distracting.

Excellent women's History book

I am so glad the story from the 18th century newspaper was retold here. I realize how far women have come in the 100 years since it's publication. I am also pleased to say that sex work has transformed considerably as well. It still serves as a safety net for the destitute, in a country that continues to criminalize this valuable community service. but with the invention of the internet, the service has become the domain of the men and women who work in the industry. Now we need to end the stigma enforced by religious zealots and entrenched patriarchy who show no respect for individual liberty.