Introduction

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The epic true crime story of the most successful bootlegger in American history and the murder that shocked the nation, from the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

“Gatsby-era noir at its best.”—Erik Larson

In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he's a multi-millionaire. The press calls him "King of the Bootleggers," writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand-new cars for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States.

Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt's bosses at the Justice Department hired her right out of law school, assuming she'd pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintain with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It's a decision with deadly consequences. With the fledgling FBI on the case, Remus is quickly imprisoned for violating the Volstead Act. Her husband behind bars, Imogene begins an affair with Dodge. Together, they plot to ruin Remus, sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government--and that can only end in murder.

Combining deep historical research with novelistic flair, The Ghosts of Eden Park is the unforgettable, stranger-than-fiction story of a rags-to-riches entrepreneur and a long-forgotten heroine, of the excesses and absurdities of the Jazz Age, and of the infinite human capacity to deceive.

Praise for The Ghosts of Eden Park

“An exhaustively researched, hugely entertaining work of popular history that . . . exhumes a colorful crew of once-celebrated characters and restores them to full-blooded life. . . . [Abbott’s] métier is narrative nonfiction and—as this vibrant, enormously readable book makes clear—she is one of the masters of the art.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Satisfyingly sensational and thoroughly researched.”—The Columbus Dispatch

“Absorbing . . . a prohibition-era page-turner.”—Chicago Tribune

Editorial Review

An Amazon Best Book of August 2019: One of the most deliciously disturbing things about BBC America’s hit TV dramedy Killing Eve is that you just can’t help but like psychopathic serial killer, Villanelle. Sure, she’s ruthless, but charismatically so, and she’s a snappy dresser to boot. The same could be said for real-life “King of the Bootleggers,” George Remus. Karen Abbott’s compulsively readable The Ghosts of Eden Park provides a riveting portrait of this eccentric and teetotaling whiskey trafficker who, shamelessly flouting Prohibition laws, once amassed an alcohol arsenal that was 35 percent of the U.S.’s total supply. The unlawful sale of that booze brought Remus enormous wealth, and he, along with his wife, Imogen, enjoyed a lifestyle that would make Jay Gatsby jealous. But a pioneering female prosecutor—only the second woman appointed to Assistant Attorney General—would put a cork in the fun, landing Remus in prison (where he whiled away his sentence in private quarters and secured the services of a maid and cook). During this time his beloved Imogen, in cahoots with a crooked Department of Justice agent, absconded with his spoils, causing the already tightly wound trafficker to snap. The Ghosts of Eden Park is a rollicking read, and a different kind of guilty pleasure: you might find yourself rooting for Remus at times, until you remember his very real brutality and the different set of rules that benefited him (and others) as a person of means, and stature, and a certain celebrity. It’s also what makes this almost century-old true crime tale seem quite current. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Book Review

Excerpt

Prologue

Reckoning, 1927

He had been waiting for that morning, dreading it, aware it couldn’t be stopped. An hour ago he was eating breakfast and now here he was, chasing her through Eden Park. The sun, strong for the season, bludgeoned through his fedora and inflamed his bald head. His silk trousers whisked against his skin. He heard the swish of his wingtips through the grass, the rasping of his breath. On the road nearby a brigade of cars clamored in the rush hour traffic. The throaty engines, the blaring of horns, the people determined to be someplace else. Exhaust fumes burned in his nostrils. Somewhere behind him were his own blue Buick and his driver, abandoned. He’d learned she wanted to kill him. His brain had wandered to a shadowy land, somewhere between sanity and madness.

For two years he had not been right. Friends and associates would attest to the difference, a stark split between then and now. He had long referred to himself in the third person, but such declarations became more frequent; there seemed an odd detaching, as if part of him had crept outside of his skin. With the slightest provocation—just a single, specific word—his skin purpled and his features knotted into a ghastly cartoon. He spoke of a halo hovering above his head, whispering to him, marking him wherever he went. He described shooting stars only he could see, their tails imprinting bright, lingering bolts inside his closed eyes. He rambled incessantly about love and betrayal and revenge. He embarked on nationwide searches, hoping to validate every suspicion that tumbled through his mind. He announced, with unwavering conviction, that people from all corners wished him dead: gangsters in St. Louis, a certain woman federal official in Washington D.C., and—worst of all—his wife, Imogene, who had razed his world to the ground. His Little Imo, his truest and sweetest, his Prime Minister, his centipede, his monkey, his gem; how would he ever forget those old, dead endearments from their past? He just wished to talk to her, he’d insist. Maybe he could stop what she had set in motion. He had little time left.

And there she was, finally, close enough to touch.

She sprinted faster, her black silk dress like a waving flag. He accelerated, everything but the sight of her falling away. They were even now, face to face beneath a gazebo, the autumn air just beginning to darken the leaves. He heard her voice, a sound that once upon a time made him mad with a boundless and wild joy. Between them rose a glint of silver and cream: a pearl-handled revolver.

The crack of the bullet shook the birds from the trees. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

Before reading The Ghosts of Eden Park, how much did you know about George Remus, Mabel Walker Willebrandt, and the Prohibition Era? Which historical aspects of the book surprised you the most? Did you learn new things about this period in history?
You meet two very different female characters in The Ghosts of Eden Park: Imogene Remus and Mabel Walker Willebrandt. Compare and contrast these two characters. With whom did you most identify, and why? What did you like or dislike about them? How did they each adhere to—and rebel against—circumscribed gender roles?
George and Imogene’s relationship deteriorates after he’s sent to prison. Taking into consideration everything you've learned about Imogene, do you believe their love was genuine? Why or why not? Were you surprised by her and Remus’s fates at the end?
The Ghosts of Eden Parkis set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age. What role does the setting play? Do you think these events could have occurred in any other era?
What were your initial impressions of George Remus? Did your opinions shift throughout The Ghosts of Eden Park?
The Ghosts of Eden Parkuses excerpts of trial testimony to foreshadow and create suspense. Did you know which character would commit murder? Did your assumptions change at all as you read?
As you read about the court proceedings, what reactions did you have about the trial-by-jury process? What are the most significant factors in getting a fair trial, or an intelligent investigation? Have you served on a jury, or been a defendant before a jury? If so, how did your experience compare to the one described in The Ghosts of Eden Park? How would you have voted had you been on that jury?
Beneath Remus’s sensational story lie fundamental and timeless questions: What value does a life have? Is murder ever defensible? In seeking facts and certainty, how do we grapple with the often selective nature of truth?
In a way, Remus’s story could be seen as a cautionary tale about conspicuous consumption, excess, and greed. What does our seemingly boundless desire for more say about human nature? Do you believe we are always destined to wish for things we can’t have?
One of the themes in the book is the infinite human capacity to deceive—both others and ourselves. How did each main character—Remus, Imogene, Willebrandt, and Dodge—practice deception?
Is there a particular scene in The Ghosts of Eden Parkthat will stay with you? What will you remember most about this book? Do you plan to read more fiction or nonfiction about the Prohibition Era?

Weblinks

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