The Story of Chicago May

The author interjects too much of herself, especially toward the end, but over all this is a sublime and affecting story of one Irish immigrant's lifelong journey through the underworld.

I more or less liked this book, but had issues with the amount of stuff that was made up due to lack of information. It wasn't clear which was fact or fiction. Entertaining but take it with a large cube of salt.

Chicago May was a infamous crook/prostitute during the first three decades of the 20th century. Nuala O’Faolain discovered her story and became increasingly interested in the life of her fellow Irish countrywoman. O’Faolain takes the story of May from May’s own memoir and adds a bit of history and insight. For the most part, the author’s presence is welcome, she provides us with facts about the places and the culture that May lived in, and she has researched what others who knew May, or knew of her, had to say about her. At times, however, the author’s presence is intrusive. This is especially so when she makes attempts to parallel May’s life with her own brother’s life. Some might see this as an attempt to bring May’s show more story into the modern world, but it is distracting when the reader wants to know more about May and not at all about the author’s brother. show less

This was an "ok" read. It could of been much more interesting except instead of reading like a biography of Chicago May, it read more like an autobiography of Nuala O'Faoain. Too much speculation as well as the author being inserted into the story too often.

I loved this book about Chicago May and the research is excellent as this is a true story, I had also read another book about the same Woman and again an amazing story about an Irish woman.

This was an interesting bio about a young woman who emigrated from Ireland to America in the 1800's.