#BookReview #FallenWoman #AllisonMann #LindaMaySpencer #EmilyJean #HadleighHousePublishing

Linda May Spencer is a secret keeper. 

As a madam, discretion led to success. 

As a maven, diligence led to prosperity. 

And, as a mother, obscurity led to happiness. 

Or did it?

 

Saint Paul, Minnesota, is a quiet and comfortable city rich with history. Little known are the days when prostitution was a thriving business hidden in storefront saunas and health clubs. For decades, madams and business owners made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling sex. But as the twenty-first century drew near, Saint Paul officials were desperate to shut down the trade and rid its city of the stigma surrounding the sex-for-money industry. Special investigation units were formed, sting operations commenced, and lawsuits were filed. 

Caught in the crosshairs of a city determined to stop her, Linda May Spencer fought for twenty years against an institution set on taking her down. 

A traumatic birth, a painful childhood, and persistent drug addiction are the foundations on which Linda May Spencer built her life. A promise to provide a better future for her own children fueled a fire within that pushed Linda to the edge of morality, sobriety, and life, time and time again.

But Linda’s fall was more than just her crimes. Living a double life, constantly reminded of her pain, Linda turned to drugs to conceal her struggle. Ultimately, Linda had nothing left—no business, no money, and no family. She’d fallen as far as a person could go. Until one day she decided to get up. 

Fallen Woman is the true story of Linda May Spencer: madam, maven, mother. 

Amazon/IndieBound

 

Hadleigh House Publishing is a creative publishing house with a unique author partnership model that was developed to fill the void between traditional and self-publishing. Our collaboration is based on a co-invest principle with our authors working together to share in the success, investment and process of bringing a manuscript to the marketplace. Hadleigh House was founded by two best-selling female authors, Alisha Perkins and Allison Mann, who recognized that there was an opportunity to create a new model in publishing.  They recruited a proven business leader, Anna Biehn to bring the financial and operational expertise required to support their concept.  Allison’s debut book, “The Girls Are Gone,” has reached the top of multiple best-seller lists, was awarded a gold medal in the True Crime category of the 2019 IPPY Awards and sold 10,000 copies in its first year. In addition to a best-selling author, Alisha is a mental health advocate and gave her first TEDX talk in 2019 fighting back against the stigma surrounding those living with mental illness. Hadleigh is focused on bringing unique stories, bold voices and strong characters to the marketplace.  

Hadleigh House is thrilled to announce the release of Fallen Woman a true crime biography. Fallen Woman is written by author Allison Mann with Linda May Spencer and Emily Jean. 

 

Allison Mann is an author, publisher and paralegal. After graduating from Winona State University in 2001, Allison began a nearly twenty-year career as a paralegal in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. 

After co-authoring her first book, The Girls Are Gone, Allison found her way to the publishing world. In 2020, Allison co-founded and is the CEO of Hadleigh House Publishing where she developed the Hadleigh House Unpacked imprint. 

Allison continues to reside in the Twin Cities with her family, enjoying life as a boy mom and all that comes along with it. When she’s not writing, Allison can be found getting lost in a bookstore or wandering the halls of a courthouse. 

What Inspired You To Write Linda May Spencer’s Story?

When I met Linda May Spencer and her daughter, Emily, I was blown away by their story. You will see in the author’s note how inspired I was by each of them and how compelled I felt to tell this story. Having written before about a mother who completely walked away from her children it was fascinating to write now, about a woman who was so determined to give her children a better life she broke the law to do it. 

Hadleigh House Publishing

Fallen Woman

Written 

By

Author

Allison Mann

With 

Linda May Spencer

And 

Emily Jean

Review

By

Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews

First, I want to thank Allison Mann and Hadleigh House Publishing for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review. 

Linda May Spencer and Emily Jean should be commended for being brave and opening up to Allison Mann allowing her to write their deeply personal story in Fallen Woman. Linda’s story is very powerful, intense and at times very sad to read. It is one book that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. 

Allison dedicates this book to anyone who has ever fallen. 

What I loved right off the bat in the introduction is that Allison made the story personal. What I mean by that was she describes what it was like to meet Linda May Spencer in person and her thoughts on her. How she tried to do the research on her prior to meeting her. Personally, I love true crime and detective novels. I love learning about how they find out their information. So reading this introduction and how she spent so much time doing the research and getting to know her I found interesting. I liked this personal touch. 

On that note later on in the book I got the same personal touch from her daughter Emily. She expresses her feelings of what happened and gives an update of what life is like today. I loved that this aspect was added to the book. 

One thing that also stood out to me in the book is that there were pictures posted in the book. The pictures were of family members, buildings, documents, etc. another little thing to give the story a little personal touch. 

Fallen Woman takes you into a world that is rarely talked about and considered taboo. It was an eye opening experience for me learning about it. 

There was one scene in this book that I could not stomach (and I am an open minded reader) However, I put myself into that character's shoes and emotionally and mentally felt everything she was going through. I understood why this scene was added and the relevance of it but my heart went out to the character big time! 

Linda’s Mom was not my favorite person in this book! I was quite upset with how she treated Linda who was born with a few disabilities. I disliked how cold she was and how she never explained to her why she was the way she was. Who makes their young daughter go to a doctor's appointment alone?! My heart just went out to her for that. I can’t imagine how scared she must have been. 

I just loved the way Linda looked up to her brother Abby and felt so safe around him. 

Allison, Linda and Emily I felt made a great team collaborating on this to make it a great book.