num_pages: 312
description: "San Francisco has always been noted for its colorful characters, but it is doubtful if even that marvelous city has ever produced another as bizarre as Mary Ellen Pleasant, born a slave in Georgia, who passed as a white. As Mammy Pleasant she became one of San Francisco's legendary figures. Immune to the law, she controlled finances and politics, and exercised enormous influence over many of the city's most eminent citizens. Whether she was a saint risking her life and fortune to free slaves - or sinner, running the nefarious House of Evil on Octavia Street, has long been debated.""The question is definitely settled in Helen Holdredge's fine book. This is an extraordinary account of the career of an incredible woman."- The Saturday Review
language: English
title: Mammy Pleasant
titlecomplete: Mammy Pleasant
genres: History
ratings_count: 11
publisher: Ballantine Books