Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Given the hardscrabble lives, isolation, and lopsided ratio of men to women (especially the "respectable" kind) in the old West, it is no wonder that even mildly talented female entertainers were lionized. They were also richly rewarded, often being honored with bags of gold dust and pelted with silver coins. Enss and Chartier, authors of With Great Hope and Love Untamed, present the stories of 15 of these enterprising women. Several were already famous, or became so afterward, in more legitimate venues, among them Maude Adams, Sarah Bernhardt, Adah Menken, Lillie Langtry, Helena Modjeska, and Lillian Russell. But most are far less known, if not totally obscure. The authors have done a good job of discovering a few of these "gilded girls" through accounts in contemporaneous Wild West newspapers, from which they copiously quote, but it is unfortunate that they omit Lotta Crabtree and Lola Montez. Although the subject should be inherently interesting, the choppy and prosaic writing dilutes the impact. In addition, the text seems to be aimed at a very young audience. Therefore, this is recommended for juvenile readers in public libraries.-Roy Liebman, California State Univ., Los Angeles (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.