Sarah E. Walters' unusual book from a century ago reads better than a current novel, yet an appendix of newspaper articles from the period verifies that everything she says is true. Her story is that of an extraordinary ordinary woman with elementary schooling who married a man of her dreams, a doctor, no less, who, in reality, and despite his redeeming qualities, turned out to be an alcoholic, carouser and womanizer who disappeared until shortly before he died. She fought all along to save their marriage and support their children, cleaning floors, working for a restaurant chain and on steamboats, a dangerous occupation allowed to women in those days. She also fought city hall when her boy became addicted to heroin illegally peddled by the drug store, thanks to unethical officials. And for that she was thrown without a hearing into the infamous madhouse where she wrote her book, hoping all the while to go on a book tour to save others from suffering her similar ordeals, but she died while cleaning a floor at the height of the Spanish Influenza. Her book did not see the light of day until this day, and is offered by her great grandson with great respect for good women.
Chapters include Prologue and Dedication, Putting First Things First, My New Castle Charmer, My Skating Lesson, Elopement & Philadelphia, Our First Baby & First Quarrel, Misfortune At The Brothel, I Was Afraid Of Him, Eddie Is Born & Teddy Rejects Him, Valentine Cruelty, Death Knell Prelude To Desertion, Pittsburgh And That Woman, My Own Attorney Molests Me, That Brazen Harlot Attacks Me Again, I Catch My Attorney With That Woman, Good People's Poison Is Bad People's Meat, I Take Work On The Steamboats, The River Gets Into The Blood, Steamboats Wrecked By Greed, I Swallowed A Bitter Pill, My Great Dishonor, The Infernal Liquor Traffick, My Brother And Husband Pass Away, False News And The Funeral, A Foolish Thing Well Done, A Barking Dog & The Brutish Alderman, The Tragic Death Of Stella Murray, We Take In Elizabeth And Mary. Charles Asher's Suicide. Mr. Hill Fights The Dens Of Iniquity, The Reverend Detective Got The Picture, The Poison Bottle, Don't Talk Loud At The Drugstore, I Am Called A Heroic Woman, The Pull Of Catholic Law Breakers, They Threw Me Down Courthouse Steps, The Gang's Horrible Infamy On Me, Brain Specialists Call Me Insane, She Said She Was Taking Me Home, Nurses Say Insanity Runs In The Family, Judges Dig Into Statute Books, I Want My Baby! I Want My Baby, Present-Day Hypocrites, Judge Haymaker Condemns Me To Hell, There Was No Billy Club On Me, Poor Creatures In Marshalsea, Judges Dare Not Buck The Gang, Good Judge Thomson Releases Me, My Letter To The Judge Got Me Freed, Our Great Big City Is An Awful Pity, Why Asses Have Ears, Difference Between Men And Animals, The Suffrage Movement Exposed, The Trial Of The Dope Sellers, The Fleming Druggists Appeal, Epitaph & Epilogue. Appendix – Notes And Press Reports.
