The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America Kindle Edition

Most families have a bootlegger story that has been passed down from the Prohibition Era. Maybe someone's grandfather ran booze or the family's neighbor made booze. Or some relative knew where to buy booze (who didn't during that time period?) But, what a family story one would have if related to George Remus! Remus is either the villain or the hero of Karen Abbott's new book THE GHOSTS OF EDEN PARK. Depending on how an individual feels about prohibition, the law, business and enterprise, Remus may either horrify or delight. In most ways, it is the latter. Here is a man who flouted the rules, but with such style and conviction that the reader has to admire him rather than look askance. First there is the pull-yourself-up-by-the-boot-strings background of the fellow: he dropped out of school in 8th grade to work at an uncle's pharmacy, and by the age of 19, he'd bought the pharmacy. Although he seemed to do well in the pharmaceutical business, he decided he wanted to pursue law instead. While practicing as a lawyer, Remus noticed that many were being charged with violations of the new Volstead Act. Rather than capitalizing on this specialty in law, he decided to study ways around the act in order to become a top-of-the-line bootlegger himself. Interesting character, eh?Remus was VERY successful in his bootlegging ventures. He didn't drink alcohol, he had a good sense for business, and he kept finding and exploiting loopholes in the law. His empire grew large, and his lifestyle showed it. Some of the best descriptions in the book are of his lavish mansion in Cincinnati - 31 rooms total plus 10 acres of gardens, and a Greco-Roman swimming pool housed in its own building (and which cost him $175,000 to build in 1920's dollars.) In addition to the house, there were the furnishings, the art, and the extravagant parties thrown there. Of course, there was also Imogene. Imogene was Remus' second wife, and he loved, trusted, and coveted her. A woman younger than the famous bootlegger, she called him "Daddy," and was in the relationship for - what? Sometimes it is hard to tell. Imogene is a difficult character. The reader pictures her - all fashionable and perky - and wants to like her, but there is something about her words and actions that give way to distrust. No secrets are being given away - the reader knows from the start of the book that Remus killed her, BUT . . . one does not expect the up and down feelings that come with that. Is she a victim? Do we care? Who do we feel for? The dead woman or the rejected man? The relationship is so puzzling that it provides as much interest - if not more - than the bootlegging empire and eventual fall from grace. George Remus did not have the reputation of a good man. There was violence in his history, and he certainly comes across on the page as someone that no one would want to mess with. George always seemed to win, come out on top, and how he got there depended on many actions that most law abiding citizens would scorn. Still, he comes across as likable. This is not your usual villain.There is also a heroine in the book (no, not wife Imogene): Mabel Walker Willebrandt. Imagine a woman working in Washington, DC in the 1920s as the Assistant Attorney General of the United States. Who knew there was a woman in such a powerful and unusual position so many years ago in American history? Suddenly Abbott's book becomes an interesting presentation of women's studies in US politics. Willebrandt was appointed to this prestigious position just nine months after American women were given the right to vote! Amazing history. Amazing times. Unfortunately for Willebrandt, her Washington bosses assigned her the task of keeping tabs on the Volstead Act, and Mabel - who had, before Prohibition - enjoyed an occasional glass of wine, was forced to put all her energies into this new law and to go after its biggest offenders. Mabel had to do what Mabel had to do because she was a woman in a high-up position, reportable to men, and trying to prove that women were equal and capable and could fit right in government roles as well as the males one normally expected to find there. The reader will root for Mabel, right? Well . . .maybe . . .That is the interesting dilemma in Abbott's book. Who does one root for? Who is the villain? Who is the hero/heroine? Is anyone? Or does it change from day to day, chapter to chapter? The characters - all very real people - are what make THE GHOSTS OF EDEN PARK so captivating. One turns the pages quickly trying to settle into a fan club for someone: Remus? Imogene? Willebrandt? The reader's feelings for the various players changes frequently. How can one like Remus who is such a scheming and violent man? It turns out he is actually quite likable despite his faults and mistakes. How can one not feel devastated to hear that Imogene has been killed? When does the reader lose empathy? And as far as cheering for pioneering feminist, Maude Willebrandt? Her story and actions grow old, and the reader becomes frustrated and annoyed with her. THE GHOSTS OF EDEN PARK is the most memorable book of recent times in which villains and heroes are not clearcut. It is a book that makes one think and question: what is a villain? what is a hero?That Prohibition was wrong is certainly an ongoing theme throughout Abbott's work. If the Volstead Act had not gone through, there would have been no George Remus as bootlegger, no GHOSTS OF EDEN PARK, and perhaps no death of Imogene. Who knows what Mabel would have been able to do in Washington, DC if she had been assigned another task. As for Washington,DC itself, Abbott continues to give us lessons in American history, perhaps one of the most important being the high-level involvement and complicity of male government employees in the cover-up and side cash business of Prohibition. Yes, there is corruption on all levels in this fast-paced book. Plenty of action - and learning - for everyone. The one area Abbott didn't delve in too deeply was mental health, and, for the main character, George Remus, it is likely that most readers will want to know more. The man was a bit of a genius, but he was unstable and unpredictable in the most amazing ways. Abbott, probably wisely, left the mental-health issues to the courtroom: Remus defending himself based on the insanity plea, and the reports of alienists (psychiatrists) who studied him. It will be tempting for readers to speculate on his actual diagnosis, however. If he were alive and being tried today, what would we hear from the mental-health experts? Was George Remus a classic psychopath?THE GHOSTS OF EDEN PARK is a ride well worth taking. The book moves right along, the characters are absorbing, and with bootlegging and murder and other crimes thrown in, what could go wrong in such a work? Not much. Abbott proves once again that she is the queen of this particular genre of nonfiction. An earlier book of hers, SIN IN THE SECOND CITY: MADAMS, MINISTERS, PLAYBOYS AND THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA'S SOUL is another recommended read. Check it out.

The Ghosts of Eden Park is another great book by Karen Abbott, who I believe is the best author out there. The first thing you have to realize is she is able to take a story of events which happened one hundred years ago, and present it in a way where it seems like it happened yesterday, with every detail fresh and communicated to the reader in a really user friendly way. Every sentence is profound and information packed. The level and depth of her research is unsurpassed, and she certainly can turn a phrase , and is quite the wordsmith.The way she chose to approach and present her story is brilliant in the sense is that every dynamic and situation is presented as the major conflict and contrast that it is. The law of the land is prohibition, yet the reality is an endless "wet parade", to borrow a phrase from Upton Sinclair. Law enforcement wise, corrupt prohibition agents and members of the Ohio gang, work side by side with zealous prosecutors like Ms. Willebrandt and a young J. Edgar Hoover. And then you have Imogene, whose apparent actions in cahoots with Dodge fly in the face of what society would expect from a wife in the 1920's. At the trial, you have the law and the judge's instructions on the one hand, and the jurors collective biases and prejudices on the other, and never the twin shall meet. Remus is left having to navigate all of this, good luck with that.It is interesting that the play Chicago first came out around this time. The song on the current Chicago music soundtrack which says "he (she) had it coming", might certainly apply to Imogene if she really committed the dastardly deeds against Remus. "Remus was justified in what he did", said Remus.All in all just yet another masterpiece from Abbott, not to be missed, for sure.

The Ghosts of Eden Park is set in the Jazz Age in the United States. It was a time of great change—women received the right to vote; fashion, music, and social norms were being transformed; and alcohol became illegal. Into this setting, insert George Remus, a lawyer turned bootlegger who quickly amassed a vast fortune by finding loopholes in the new Prohibition laws. Opposing Remus was Mabel Walker Willebrandt, appointed as US Assistant Attorney General with responsibility for enforcing Prohibition. Fresh out of law school, few expected her to upset the benign indifference shown by most politicians; they were wrong. Remus was convicted and sentenced to prison. His second wife, Imogene, betrayed him with one of Willebrandt’s agents, Franklin Dodge, and they stole much of his fortune. And then, the histrionics Remus showed in the courtroom became more prevalent and much more violent. But was it insanity, or just a ruse to defend himself in his own trial for killing Imogene?With all this grist for a spellbinding tale, I expected one; unfortunately, it never quite materializes. The text and dialog pulled from court records and other documents reflect the style of the time, e.g., somewhat wooden compared to today’s standards. But that same stilted feel continues into the rest of the book. Perhaps that was intentional, but it reduces the pace to the point of plodding. The story is not presented succinctly. As an example, during Remus’s murder trial, several witnesses were called to testify about the night Remus discovered that his mansion had been stripped of its valuables. Each witness, however, gives a different date. And after several pages of this same story, the author reveals that the lawyers were trying to prove Remus was staging his ‘discovery’ of the theft over and over, so he could fly into a rage at his wife’s betrayal for each new audience. One well-written paragraph could have replaced several pages of repetition. The basic sequence of events is also confusing, when segments from court transcripts representing a different time are inserted between chapters. And digressions into the personal and professional lives of characters only loosely related to the story feel like filler.I did enjoy the insight the book provided on several tangential topics—the excesses of Remus’s Gatsby-esque lifestyle, the treatment of the rich in the penal system, the concept of insanity in the legal system, among others. And I came to greatly admire the stamina and vision of a past US Assistant Attorney General. To accomplish what Wllibrandt did during the Prohibition Era was truly amazing. But as for a riveting story of betrayal and murder in the matter of George Remus? That was difficult to find.I was given a free copy of this book. I elected to write this candid review.

This is a great novel that brings to life the roaring twenties.The author really develops her characters and you feel you know them,warts and all.