This study of gold diggers is illuminating and original. Donovan defines gold digger as a woman who pursues romantic relationships primarily for economic gain. In five chapters organized chronologically and thematically, he examines the evolution of this stereotype from its emergence before World War I through Anna Nicole Smith’s marriage to an elderly billionaire in 1994. One chapter explores a moral panic about alimony in the 1920s; another investigates a 1930s crusade to end heart balm laws (prohibiting seduction, breach of promise, and alienation of affection); and a third analyzes a furor over “Allotment Annies” who married multiple servicemen apiece during World War II to pocket their military allowances. Another covers the Lee Marvin–Michelle Triola palimony case of the 1970s.
According to Donovan, the trope originated in the early 1910s from the urban-amusement culture of dance halls and popular theater. In this setting, on the boundary between prostitution and dating,...