THE VIVID, SCANDAL-FILLED STORY OF A SHREWD, RAGS-TO-RICHES MILLIONAIRESS AND THE RUTHLESS POLITICIAN WHO PURSUED HER, TOLD AGAINST THE EFFERVESCENT BACKDROP OF AMERICA’S GOLDEN CITY–SAN FRANCISCO. San Francisco, until the mid-1940s, was a city that lived by its own rules, fast and loose. Formed by the gold rush and destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, it served as a pleasure palace for the legions … pleasure palace for the legions of men who sought their fortunes in the California foothills. For the women who followed, their only choice was to support, serve, or submit.
Inez Burns was different. She put everyone to shame with her dazzling, calculated, stone-cold ambition.
Born in the slums of San Francisco to a cigar-rolling alcoholic, Inez transformed herself into one of California’s richest women, becoming a notorious powerbroker, grand dame, and iconoclast. A stunning beauty with perfumed charm, she rose from manicurist to murderess to millionaire, seducing one man after another, bearing children out of wedlock, and bribing politicians and cops along the way to secure her place in the San Francisco firmament.
Inez ruled with incandescent flair. She owned five hundred hats and a closet full of furs, had two small toes surgically removed to fit into stylish high heels, and had two ribs excised to accentuate her hourglass figure. Her presence was defined by couture dresses from Paris, red-carpet strutting at the San Francisco Opera, and a black Pierce-Arrow that delivered her everywhere. She threw outrageous parties on her sprawling, eight-hundred-acre horse ranch, a compound with servants, cooks, horse groomers, and trainers, where politicians, judges, attorneys, Hollywood moguls, and entertainers gamboled over silver fizzes.
Inez was adored by the desperate women who sought her out–and loathed by the power-hungry men who plotted to destroy her.
During a time when women risked their lives with predatory practitioners lurking in back alleys, Inez and her team of women, clad in crisp, white nurse’s uniforms, worked night and day in her elegantly appointed clinic, performing fifty thousand of the safest, most hygienic abortions available during a time when even the richest wives, Hollywood stars, and mistresses had few options when they found themselves with an unwanted pregnancy.
Inez’s illegal business bestowed upon her power and influence–until a determined politician by the name of Edmund G. (Pat) Brown–the father of current California Governor Jerry Brown–used Inez to catapult his nascent career to national prominence.
In The Audacity of Inez Burns, Stephen G. Bloom, the author of the bestselling Postville, reveals a jagged slice of lost American history. From Inez’s riveting tale of glamour and tragedy, he has created a brilliant, compulsively readable portrait of an unforgetable woman during a moment when America’s pendulum swung from compassion to criminality by punishing those who permitted women to control their own destinies.more
I enjoyed reading a book that considers the point of view of the abortionist and not the person receiving the abortion.
On a macro level, this book is a captivating exploration of the mores, culture, and economic climate that defined San Francisco at the turn of the last century. On a micro level, it is a surprisingly intimate account of one woman’s journey from her start as a young, attractive manicurist in service (with benefits) to San Francisco’s male elite, to her ultimate destination as a denizen of the City’s wealthiest echelon, having made her fortune as the City’s most highly regarded and successful abortionist. At the height of her “success,” Pat Brown, a newly elected district attorney, a Catholic, and the future governor of California, stakes his burgeoning political career on the destruction of Inez’s abortion-based empire. His efforts lead to three criminal trials which provide absorbing insights into the political and legal climate of Inez’s time, juxtaposed against the backdrop of society’s vacillating moral attitudes regarding abortion and women’s health. Despite much of the book’s focus on events of nearly a century ago, the issues surrounding Inez’s unlikely career and ultimate downfall are remarkably relatable to debates still raging today. Inez would be an intriguing character, even without the political and moral turmoil that defined much of her life. She was an enigma – a bold, driven, pioneering woman far ahead of her times in many respects, but also a woman with virtually no agenda beyond herself. Her story serves as a thoroughly researched historical reference and a fascinating character study — in short, a great read.
I have been adamantly pro-choice my entire life. As a college student, I went to rallies in support of women’s rights, and escorted women into abortion clinics past rabid anti-choice proponents. Inez was a fascinating woman. She provided an invaluable and much sought after service to many women in San Francisco, and did so with great skill and care. Despite her obvious belief in a woman’s right to choose, her motivation was far from altruistic. She was a self-centered narcissist, who relished the vast wealth her career afforded her, and was willing to stop at virtually nothing to achieve it. The book suggests that she was responsible for at least one murder (her husband) and possibly two. After reading Inez’s story, I found myself recognizing that even this staunch defender of a woman’s right to choose could be so flawed in so many aspects of her life. In Inez’s story, I discovered my own naiveté in assuming that a woman, who displayed such courage and determination in challenging the prevailing moral ambiguity of her time, could also be so cold and calculating. It is a fascinating twist on an issue that still divides society today. It is a great read that I would highly recommend.
good American history and Bio
Sad story of a woman who was providing a a service that was illegal, from a different era when some had no choice but to use her service.
A riveting story/biography of a woman who observed a need in the community and promptly filled that need, albeit in not quite legal terms. Having never heard of Inez Burns I enjoyed her history and that of San Francisco where she lived and plied her trade.
Interesting read.
Great historical read with recognizable political figures.
I did not know what I was getting into with this book, but once I started reading, I was transfixed. I had never really thought much about where women could go to terminate an unwanted pregnancy before Roe v. Wade beyond the horror stories of coat-hanger abortions. This story is as captivating as it is timely. Rather than look at the issue from a more current moralistic view, the account remains factual, focusing on the societal backdrop as well as the pragmatic issues surrounding an underground pure cash business. Heroine or vixen, Inez Burns was a unique character.
I don’t agree with the same beliefs as Inez did, but it kept me reading the entire story.
A wonderful look into SF in its heydays. Seems almost relevant to todays times
Very well researched and written almost like a novel. What a life she led and what a service she provided, all the while paying off those who could turn her in. But for the longest time none of them did and women were able to get the help they desperately needed in a safe, clean even inviting atmosphere.
Thisis a story about a woman who took on the world without regard to law but for justice. Her courage and determination are laudable and her life woth remebering.
I enjoyed reading the life story of Inez Burns. Even though she was involved in an illegal practice, I couldn’t help but admire her fearless strength. I felt I learned a lot about the early history of California, including the devastating earthquake in 1907. Inez overcame a deprived, tumultuous childhood to become one of the richest people in California.
This was an interesting true historical book that included much how San Francisco and California in general developed into major economic and cultural areas of the U.S. and the world and how one woman took advantage of the fall-out of that culture to become wealthy beyond belief during the time of the depression. Inez Burns became a sought-after abortionist because she was a woman but was also known as one of the leading abortionists in California. How she was able to stay in business is another backstory as she had the support of law enforcement, judges and the medical community, paying off many of them on a regular basis. The consensus was that she was providing a valuable service to women who were the victims of men who used women for their own pleasure. However, Inez capitalized on this misfortune charging exorbitant prices which women were very willing to pay, resulting in Inez’s quick and steady income. Tax evasion problems and political shenanigans cost her her livihood in the end but this book provides a lot of behind-the-scenes look at the decadence that was San Francisco in the early 1900’s. I personally am anti-abortion but as a nurse it was interesting to learn how prevalent abortion was during this time period. To read this book is to learn much about the history of the country during this time period.
I learned a lot reading this book.
It was an interesting read.
Absolutely loved this book. The author brought San Francisco to life from 1880 to 1958. The description of the 1906 earthquake was riveting. Inez Burns was a tragic figure in the history of the womens reproductive rights struggle. In the beginning it was about the money she made from the illegal abortions she performed. It was a necessary service in an era when birth control was rudimentary and not readily available. She provided clean, safe abortions for women who were desperate for for help in impossible situations. After years of doing what she did, she saw the hypocrisy in the position of the Catholic church’s stance in condemning birth control and their pervasive disdain for women and was vocal about it. She also saw the inequity in the role of women as far as sex and unwanted pregnancy were concerned. She unfortunately rubbed high society figures the wrong way flaunting her wealth and her attempts to gain entry into their circle was her undoing. She became a casualty in Pat Brown’s climb to the top of the political heap in California in the 1940s and 1950s. A fascinating read, couldn’t put it down.
Historical; never heard of the woman before but most interesting character; incredible personal history but also reveals a lot of details of historical events, not only about San Francisco but our nation.
Fascinating