Wicked Women

Notorious, Mischievous, and Wayward Ladies from the Old West

By: Chris Enss

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

This collection of short, action-filled stories of the Old West's most egregiously badly behaved female outlaws, gamblers, soiled doves, and other wicked women offers a glimpse into the Western women's experience that's less sunbonnets and more six-shooters. During the late 1800s, while men were settling the new frontier and rushing off to the latest boomtowns, women of easy virtue found wicked lives west of the Mississippi when they followed fortune hunters seeking gold and land in an unsettled territory. Prostitutes and female gamblers hoped to capitalize on the vices of the intrepid pioneers. Pulling together stories of ladies caught in the acts of mayhem, distraction, murder, and highway robbery, Wicked Women includes famous names like Belle Starr and Big Nose Kate as well as lesser known characters.

©2015 Chris Enss (P)2015 Tantor

Entertaining and very interesting

Narrator was easy to listen to, and the stories were very interesting. It had us looking up old history on some of the locations and people mentioned.

Worth a Listen

More information on a little researched topic than I have ever read before. Keeps your interest easily.

More

I wish there had more: more information about the women, more women to include in the book. I understand that there is only so much info available about these women and that women like the ones in the book were small in numbers. At the end of the book I was left wanting more

Brave Women of the West

I loved this book. It was very well performed and was very entertaining. The book basically is several short venuettes of different women known in the West from about 1870 until 1920. Several are orphans or young women with no education; they are all smart, resilient, and creative. It left me wondering “how would I survive given the same circumstances.” It would be a great read for women’s’ studies. Read it; you won’t be disappointed!

Absolutely loved this audiobook

This was very entertaining and very informative, narration was also terrific! I loved hearing about the women that helped shape the wild west. Not sure women of today could have handled life out west (we're rather spoiled) the way these amazing women did and had to do just to survive - great read, great history lesson. Def Nigel's recommend for history buffs and those that love westerns and story's about love and life as a woman in the late 1800's

Good but certain mispronunciations were annoying

If you could sum up Wicked Women in three words, what would they be?

Prostitution, Gambling, Suicide

What did you like best about this story?

It gave a viewpoint that prostitution and gambling were the few alternatives for independently minded females, either by choice or circumstances, in the historical western U.S.A.

Did Kirsten Potter do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

She seemed to mostly portray the women, as if they were all Mae West imitations. Being raised in Nevada, it was like nails on a chalkboard for the constant mispronouncing of "Nevada." To perform a historical audiobook, it would seem that pronouncing names improperly takes away from the credibility of the information.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

It felt a bit like almost the same stories over and over again. Prostitution and or gambling into suicide or death in old age... over and over again...

Strong Women Out West

If you could sum up Wicked Women in three words, what would they be?

Fascinating, Daring, Informative.

Who was your favorite character and why?

No favorite. All of the ladies were special.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene where the madam shoots her lover one night, misses, then shoots him the next.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

Fun read.

Entertaining

A good grouping of old-time stories, much the same theme though. A decent listen.

Well-researched, well-written, and well-read!

I so enjoyed this book, which contains the biographies (short but thorough) of some of the fascinating women of America's Wild West. Belle Starr and Calamity Jane are in here, but the other women whose lives are recounted are lesser-known but just as interesting. The performance was excellent as well. I highly recommend!

Another side of history

I love all things US history. This was a side of our nation’s past that doesn’t get talked about. I’m from Southern California so many of the stories took place in familiar locales. I learned a few new things and I definitely have more empathy for the soiled dives of the old west.