"Lita Ward" the Soho Girl
While working, Evelyn meets a sadistic killer and takes him back to her flat..
Though married to chicken farmer Harold, Evelyn Oatley has given up on rural life and returned to live in seedy Soho under her showgirl alias "Lita Ward". The coming of war has meant a boom time for those selling entertainment, liquor and sex to the servicemen flooding the area. It is in this world of dancing and drinking that Evelyn lives.
But beneath a fun-loving facade, Evelyn is lonely. Her male callers help stave off this sense of isolation, but only temporarily. And it鈥檚 while working that she鈥檒l meet a cruel and sadistic killer and take him back to her flat.
Sources:
Iglikowski-Broad, Vicky. 鈥楾he Shim Sham Club: 鈥淟ondon鈥檚 Miniature Harlem鈥濃��, The National Archives, 5 February 2020.
National Fairground and Circus Archive, 鈥楾he Second World War鈥�, The University of Sheffield, July 2015.
Sladen, Chris. 鈥楬olidays at Home in the Second World War鈥�, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2002.
Walkowitz, Judith R. Nights Out: Life in Cosmopolitan London (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012).
