The Mayor of Maxwell Street
Book - 2024 Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Cunningham, Avery, Fiction / Cunningham, Avery None on shelf 5 requests on 3 copies
Sign in to request
Location & Checkout Length | Call Number | Checkout Length | Item Status |
---|---|---|---|
Westgate Adult Books, NEW Spring 4-week checkout |
Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Cunningham, Avery | 4-week checkout | In transit |
Downtown 1st Floor, NEW Spring 4-week checkout |
Fiction / Cunningham, Avery | 4-week checkout | Due 05-19-2024 |
Malletts Adult Books, NEW Spring 4-week checkout |
Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Cunningham, Avery | 4-week checkout | Due 05-18-2024 |
1921, Chicago. Nelly Sawyer is the daughter of the "wealthiest Negro in America," whose affluence catapulted his family to the heights of Black society. After the unexpected death of her only brother, Nelly becomes the premier debutante overnight. But Nelly has aspirations beyond society influence and marriage. For the past year, she has worked undercover as an investigative journalist, sharing the achievements and tribulations of everyday Black people living in the shadow of Jim Crow. Her latest assignment thrusts her into the den of a dangerous vice lord: the so-called Mayor of Maxwell Street. Born in rural Alabama to a murdered biracial couple, Jay Shorey knows firsthand what it means to be denied a chance at the American dream. When a tragic turn of fate gave Jay a rare path out, he took it without question. He washed up on Chicago's storied shores and forged his own way to the top of the city's underworld, running Chicago's swankiest speakeasy, where the rich and famous rub elbows with gangsters and politicians alike. When Nelly's and Jay's paths cross, she recruits him to help expose the Mayor and bring about lasting change in a corrupt city. But Jay also introduces a whole new world to Nelly, one where her horizons can extend beyond the confines of her ivory tower. Trapped between the monolith of Jim Crow, the inflexible world of the Black upper class, and the violence of Prohibition-era Chicago, Jay and Nelly work together and stoke the flames of a love worth fighting for. Debut author Avery Cunningham's stunning novel is at once an epic love story, a riveting historical drama, and a brilliant exploration of Black society and perseverance when the '20s first began to roar.
REVIEWS & SUMMARIES
Publishers Weekly ReviewSummary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
No community reviews. Write one below!
PUBLISHED
Los Angeles : Hyperion Avenue, 2024.
Year Published: 2024
Description: 508 pages ; 22 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book
ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9781368098694
SUBJECTS
African Americans -- Social life and customs -- Fiction.
Upper class -- Chicago -- Fiction.
Women journalists -- Fiction.
Man-woman relationships -- Fiction.
Social classes -- Fiction.
African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Fiction.
American Dream -- Fiction.
Chicago (Ill.) -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.
Historical fiction.
Romance fiction.