A Betting Woman

“Born Simone Jules, reinvented as Eleanor Dumont, and largely remembered as Madame Moustache.”

It’s 1849. Simone Jules, at nineteen years old, arrives at the booming town of San Francisco to reinvent herself. While on a ship, she was eavesdropping for any ideas of reinvention. She is of good manners and couldn’t imagine encouraging men to play, drink and stay a while at saloon. But when she sees a deck of cards waiting to be dealt, she sees herself doing just that. She becomes a croupier of modern-day blackjack.

When a tragedy strikes her again, she is off to another place and another chance at life. She learned how to be an independent woman. Now, she wants to be an independent businesswoman. She starts the first gambling house in the California town of Nevada. Moreover, her own gambling house. She indulges men in evenings of sophisticated gambling.

Loved the grasping prose, the word choice, the speed of lyrical like sound carrying the story constantly forward. “I’d learned at Papa’s shop (…) that men often needed a velvet voice and a smattering of flattery for encouragement.”

Loved the classy and quick-witted character who at the game of cards is mostly surrounded by rogues with crude, unrefined tongues. She knows how to sassy them with her beauty, cleverness and French-ish background. Can’t say enough how much I enjoyed this phenomenal woman. Petit in stature, but larger than life in character. Beautifully developed character of a self-sufficient woman during a time when it was almost impossible.

The injections of historical background are brief but they happen often, giving depth and a good sense of time and period. There is a constant reminder of that. This is the level of historical fiction I greatly appreciate. It’s not just a one-time long description of a time period and then forgotten throughout the story.

The feelings shine throughout the story. Her contagious excitement about someone or a grief over losing someone or the coldness of the mountains that gets to you or a warmness of a place she creates for herself that you enjoy as well.

Spellbinding novel. Superbly written by amazing talent crafting such an intriguing and clever story.

P.S. Kudos to cover designer(s) for such original cover.

B O O K R E V I E W

Triggers : domestic/sexual abuse

What I thought : 
I DID NOT want this book to end!! I really enjoyed getting to know Eleanor Dumont. She was a fierce female character and it was fun seeing how she changed and grew into a very strong woman. There was conflicts, drama, romance and SO MUCH detail. You can tell A LOT of research was done to tell this story from accurate points of time. I continued to want to know what happened next in the life she lived. It felt so exciting like I was physically there. I loved all of it.

Characters : 
Some were short lived and some were carried throughout. This book has one main character and that was Simone Jules - Eleanor Dumont.

Read if you like : strong female lead
Would I pick it up again? Yes

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

An incredibly engaging story of a singular woman that you cant help but root for. Walsh paints her as a woman who takes control of her own destiny. She sets her own story and her own mythology into motion, instead of being a bland character only given identity as a reaction to external occurences. Walsh's Madam Dumont is a human being to look up to, to inspire. Walsh also pays great attention to the pacing of her novel, never allowing the story slow, lag, or get drawn into self-depricating streams of conciousnes. It is as rough, quick, exciting, and ever-changing as the wild west that the Madam conquers.

Have you read Jenni L. Walsh yet? If not, you are missing out on a quiet master of historical fiction. In Madame Moustache, Walsh brings the story of an engaging and spirited woman to us in a style that makes us feel as if we are in the intrepid heroine’s skin. From the moment we meet the highly intelligent Simone Jules, we come to understand that her adaptive, take-no-prisoners attitude will serve her well through life and help her carve a path that no woman before had traveled. Bravo to Walsh for her elegant prose - every word in this novel is finely wrought and lovingly chosen. Highly recommend!

Wow! What a book. This is a part of history I was unfamiliar with and I’m so glad I got my hands in it. The author is clearly knowledgeable about the topic. I will definitely recommend this book for book clubs.

This is a really good book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Before reading this, I had known nothing about Eleanor Dumont and am so glad I was given an ARC by the publisher. What a character she was, quite the woman, she had determination, adaptability, generosity, caring for others, she was smart, savvy, and I loved the way the author enhanced the storytelling with her imagination. 
The descriptions of the towns, emporiums, the fires, the way Eleanor dressed, her mule riding. I loved it all. This is an author to watch, I will be looking for more of Jenni L. Walsh. Highly recommend if you love the old west and want to see how one woman beat the odds. 
I want to thank Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing with NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC. This is a 5-star read!! Really good book!

What if whenever tragedy struck you could reinvent yourself? What would it be like to let destiny and fate guide you in life altering decisions? Readers, let me introduce Madame Moustache. In this book author Jenni L. Walsh brings to life the incredible story of Simone Jules/Eleanor Dumont/Madame Moustache. Simone Jules experienced a tragedy so intense that she picked up and left everything she knew to start over. She inserted herself into a world dominated by men as a woman croupier (card dealer). Tragedy again stuck and Simone wandered as a means to find closure. A calm befell her as she embraced a new home and new identity as Eleanor Dumont. Her past life as Simone threatened to topple her new existence but it was the inevitable rise and fall of a mining boom town that had her off again. As a woman who lived most of her adult life on her own terms, she comes to realize that sometimes outside forces are out of a person's control. Madame Moustache embraced all who she was and who she could be as she ventured to carve out a legacy for herself in the rough and tumble western mining towns. Walsh delivers a brilliantly composed novel that truly encapsulates the uniqueness of its main character. A wonderfully enjoyable read!
I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.