The Mayor of Maxwell Street

Until I read The Mayor of Maxwell Street, my knowledge of 1920s Chicago consisted solely of what is depicted in the iconic musical of the same name. When I saw that this novel was set during the same time period, with its enticing blend of glamor and corruption, I was immediately intrigued.

The Mayor of Maxwell Street stars Nellie Sawyer, daughter of an extremely successful horse breeder, and newly minted heir to his empire after the unexpected death of her brother. But while the rest of the Black upper class see a society woman finally making her debut, what they don’t know is that Nellie has been leading a double life. For the past year, she has been working as an undercover journalist, and her next assignment is her most dangerous so far: to bring down the head of a major Chicago mob boss, otherwise known as the “Mayor of Maxwell Street.”

The Mayor of Maxwell Street introduced me to a whole new side of Prohibition-era Chicago. This novel perfectly captures the simmering sense of distrust pervasive in the 1920s, a shunning of authority amidst rampant inflation and the horrors of Jim Crow. But it is also a portrait of Black life, of romance and passion, of a determined young woman ready to fight her odds. This book raises fascinating questions about class, justice, and love. More than anything, it made me think, and I highly recommend it.

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.