The Mayor of Maxwell Street - by Avery Cunningham (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

When a rich Black debutante enlists the help of a low-level speakeasy manager to identify the head of an underground crime syndicate, the two are thrust into the dangerous world of Prohibition-era Chicago.

The year is 1921, and America is burning. A fire of vice and virtue rages on every shore, and Chicago is its beating heart.

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.

Review Quotes

"Cunningham's striking debut chronicles the tribulations of a striving Black family in Prohibition-era Chicago. [...] Cunningham perfectly captures the contours of Jazz Age Chicago and the varying experiences of its citizens of color. Readers will be eager to see what Cunningham does next."
--Publishers Weekly

"The Mayor of Maxwell Street is a work of historical fiction, but it is just as much a love story, even as it is also a mystery and an examination of the nation's history. For a debut author, for any author, it's the literary equivalent of riding a unicycle across a highwire while juggling chainsaws. Somehow, Cunningham pulls off this trapeze act, and the reader is all the luckier for it." --Memphis Magazine

"A debut novel everyone will be talking about, The Mayor of Maxwell Street is outstanding. Filled with intrigue, suspense, and a cast of characters I both adored and wanted to strangle, this novel kept me flipping the pages and holding my breath!"
--Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling author of The Personal Librarian

"I was transfixed from the first page. Readers will feel transported to another time and confront issues and characters that feel eminently prescient. This is not one to miss."
--Nathan Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Sweetness of Water

"A tragedy, a romance, and a triumph. Do not miss this book!"
--Melissa de la Cruz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex & Eliza

"Beautifully written, The Mayor of Maxwell Street is a page-turning thrill ride through 1920s Chicago."
--Attica Locke, New York Times bestselling author of Bluebird, Bluebird

"A riveting, dynamic page-turner that transported me through time. At a moment when so much of our history is being willfully obscured yet again, this impeccably researched, sweeping novel is an absolute gift."
--Brittany K. Barnett, author of A Knock at Midnight

"The Mayor of Maxwell Street is bold, gorgeous, and deeply moving. This novel is a triumph."
--Jessica Chiarella, author of The Lost Girls and And Again

"The Mayor of Maxwell Street is a stunning debut and a riveting read . . . historical fiction at its finest."
--Kianna Alexander, author of Carolina Built

"A page-turner, with an incredible cast of characters you'll want to follow from one surprising, suspenseful turn to the next! Her fresh, unflinching vision of history and the undeniable richness of this story will make this not only a book you'll love, but also one you'll return to again and again."
--V. V. Ganeshananthan, author of Brotherless Night

"Cunningham's The Mayor of Maxwell Street is wonderfully written and a don't-miss ride of a read."
--Denny S. Bryce, author of Wild Women and the Blues

"Riveting, cinematic, and gorgeously written, Avery Cunningham's debut novel is a true force. . . . A spellbinding, tragic, and powerful read!"
--Dr. Noni D. Carter, author of Good Fortune

"I can't remember the last time I read a novel that impressed me so much at every level. . . . The Mayor of Maxwell Street will bowl you over from beginning to end."
--Rebecca Johns, author of Icebergs

About the Author