The author had a challenge to make a very old tale new without taking too many creative risks. She accomplished this admirably by using a lot of "I imagine it went like this" spots in her book. So while the reader really had to take with a grain of salt some of the descriptions, the author backed her story up with plenty of historical facts.

Primer libro de la autora que leí, poquito a poco, que el inglés me cuesta. Chicago May, una mujer fuerte, irlandesa, que huye al Nuevo y se dedica a la “mala vida”. Antiheroína, emparejada con delincuentes, luchadora, presa, mil vidas en una.

I've found Nuala O'Faolain about 15 years after her death and grown to feel about her as though she were one of my many wonderful aunts, someone I'd like to just visit with now and listen to. Sadly, all the wonderful aunts are gone (save one) but at least O'Faolain left her half-dozen or so books. I've read her being a memoirist, novelist, and journalist; in Chicago May she's a biographer. In all these roles, O'Faolain is consistent, with an eye for subtle telling details that reveal some deep truths or evoke even deeper mysteries. My only regret about this book is that I think it's the last of hers that I can come to for the first time.

An intuitive biography that is probably full of malarkey. Never really get a real feel for May.

p 182 et je suis enchantée :)
qui plus est très belle édition, agréable à lire :)
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Beau livre (malgré deux fautes d'orthographe flagrantes), par contre la lecture a été un peu laborieuse, je n'ai pas lu vite et j'ai dû faire un petit effort pour continuer chaque jour la lecture. Je n'ai pas dévoré donc. En fin de volume l'auteur dit qu'elle ne ressent pas d'amour pour Chicago May alors qu'elle pensait qu'elle serait proche d'elle. Elle ressent juste une certaine forme de respect car Chicago May s'est révoltée contre toutes les normes et contraintes de son époque et a eu une vie très difficile et peu heureuse. Je pense que j'ai ressenti ce non amour de la part de l'auteur pour son héroïne, voilà pourquoi je ne mets pas plus de trois étoiles.

Malgré cela il s'agit d'une histoire intéressante tant au niveau de la biographie de May (histoire vraie Irlandaise belle et pauvre qui s'enfuit en Amérique mener une vie de débauchée) qu'au niveau socio-historico-culturel étant donné que je n'avais jamais entendu parler ou presque de l'Histoire irlandaise. C'est aussi intéressant au niveau de la vie féminine de l'époque (1870 - 1930 env.).

A biography in only the most liberal interpretation of the word, Ms. O'Faolain has instead created a documentary of her life as she sees it intersecting Chicago May's. Since May passed away in 1929, this amounts to Ms. O'Faolain documenting her own thoughts about May's experience as she reads about May's life, follows the scant trail of information still in existence about her, and actually travels through the States to some of the same cities May passed through. The author certainly is not shy about telling her readers about how little info there is on May (this despite May's having actually written her own autobiography), and proceeds to fluff out her tome with side stories on figures both authentically in May's life (Eddie Guerin) to some truly tenuous connections (Countess Markievicz--who truly ends up seeming a more worthy historical figure in comparison). Add to this the author attempting to fill out the tome with her own imaginings of scenes from May's life, as well as many sidelines into 'The Irishwoman's experience' (despite May herself leaving Ireland at nineteen), and some truly interesting parts of May's life which pass by nearly uncommented on (what about May's life in Egypt?), and what is left feels sadly thin. I can appreciate that there may not be that much left about May, most of the sources used by Ms. O'Faolain are the Pinkerton files and May's own autobiography--but I cannot help but feel that this author has robbed an interesting and tough female figure of her own voice by her interpretation--indeed, there is very little in May's own words recorded here--perhaps due to the authors self-proclaimed disappointment at the quality of the writing in May's memoir. So she just does not include much of that, and silences a voice from the past that many of her readers will never get to hear, as they may never get the luxury to travel to New York to read it. The biggest disappointment, though was seeing first-hand how much the author decided to leave out of the information that WAS available to her--in perusing the photocopied articles on the endpapers, as well as the few that appear in the text, it becomes painfully obvious that the quotes used in the body of this work are not only severely edited, but there is not even a note to the reader that the text HAS been so edited. The personal-commentary style does have a few moments where it seems to enhance the reader's understanding of May's experience, most notably when she is remanded to prison for 10 years, and at her death, but overall, does little for this genre. I would recommend skipping this biography, however, since there is little in existence on Chicago May, this is not practical for anyone interested in her, the time period, or the lives of notorious female criminals of the past. Whatever its flaws, this book must remain a must-read until better options exist.

Nuala O'Faolain knows how to give good memoir, but she seriously did a number with this one. There are a lot of stories about Irish immigrants in the 19th century, but Chicago May has got to be one of the more interesting cases. What makes O'Faolain's take so interesting is that she spends far more time focusing on the themes of May's life than on the events, which are mostly lost to time. She really gets into May's head, insomuch as it is possible to do so, and makes the real person come to life. You get the sense that May must have been such an interesting person to know, but not someone you really would have wanted to be around.

Never heard of Chicago May, but this book paints a very colorful picture of a woman who had to sell her herself to make a living.

And Chicago May was damn good looking, she was hired to move from Chicago to Egypt to entertain men.

Of course, men cause her a lot of suffering too. Fascinating research by the author about why she left Ireland and how.

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 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.

I enjoyed Nuala O'Faolain's take on a forgotten con-artist/prostitute from Chicago's gilded age. There is a bit too much of Nuala's own biography in here though. It is forgivable because of her great stylistic powers but once or twice it intrudes too much. There is much heartbreak in this story and it is well-told.

No fluff....you don't love her, but can respect her. She's someone who lived for the here and now....painful as that may have been.

A boring book for an interesting person. Too much speculation and assumption. The pacing of the book at times seems to drag on, and the intermingling of the authors personal story was unnecessary and didn't add anything to enhance the story of May.