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A review by gilmoreguide
Belle Cora by Phillip Margulies
3.0
Belle Cora is a big, grand sweeping tale that covers a multitude of themes, many of which could be explored by a reviewer for days. Even a synopsis of this novel could get lengthy (I know, I started one and gave up) but it wouldn't do justice to the work behind this saga by Phillip Margulies. The novel is set in the mid-1800s to early 1900s and is told by Arabella Godwin, a woman who goes from being the daughter of a wealthy man in NYC to the madam of a house of ill repute in San Francisco. In between she lives a life of rural poverty, works in a clothing mill, marries a preacher, and sails around Cape Horn.
Through Margulies, Arabella is written as a real woman. One who, within in her own being, is true to a strict ethical code. She does not choose a life of prostitution but comes and goes to it out of necessity. She knows exactly what she is and makes no effort to hide it even when the times dictate that she should renounce her career to save her own skin. Instead, she uses her trade to forge connections, extract promises and exert influence when she needs it. While for some Belle is not a woman to be admired I found her to be strong, intelligent, and fiercely loyal. Her sense of style and humor made her even more interesting.
I lived among people who had special ideas of right and wrong, and what deserved admiration or contempt. Their views were such to make a whore’s life tolerable, and I accepted them as simply as I would have wrapped a blanket around me if I were cold. I became as changed a person as the possession of such opinions could make me.
You can read the rest of this review at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/01/belle-cora/
Through Margulies, Arabella is written as a real woman. One who, within in her own being, is true to a strict ethical code. She does not choose a life of prostitution but comes and goes to it out of necessity. She knows exactly what she is and makes no effort to hide it even when the times dictate that she should renounce her career to save her own skin. Instead, she uses her trade to forge connections, extract promises and exert influence when she needs it. While for some Belle is not a woman to be admired I found her to be strong, intelligent, and fiercely loyal. Her sense of style and humor made her even more interesting.
I lived among people who had special ideas of right and wrong, and what deserved admiration or contempt. Their views were such to make a whore’s life tolerable, and I accepted them as simply as I would have wrapped a blanket around me if I were cold. I became as changed a person as the possession of such opinions could make me.
You can read the rest of this review at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/01/belle-cora/