My Notorious Life

Description

'In the end, they celebrated. They bragged. They got me finally, was their feeling. They said I would take my secrets to the grave. They should be so lucky.' Defiant and daring, Axie Muldoon claws her way from the streets up to the dizzying heights of New York society. But as her fame grows and her name hits the headlines, her reputation as the most scandalous midwife of her time begins to threaten everything she holds dear. And one crusading official will not rest until he has brought about the downfall of 'Madame X'. It will take all of Axie's cunning to save both herself and those she loves from ruin...

A former documentary television producer (and winner of two Emmy Awards and an Edward R. Murrow Award), Kate Manning has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Glamour and More, among other publications. She is the author of Whitegirl, a novel, and is an adjunct faculty member of the English Department at Bard High School Early College. She lives with her family in New York City.

A glorious, grotty version of Call the Midwife set in the backstreets of nineteenth-century New York and starring a rambunctious heroine called Axie Muldoon, My Notorious Life is an angry, colourful page-turner * Metro * Not just a splendidly page-turning story of an angry orphan clawing her way up in the world, but a gripping docu-drama about women's business (in several senses) in nineteenth-century America ... Unflinchingly memorable * Emma Donoghue, author of Room * Manning's sophisticated, intelligent novel is brought to life by the vivid voice in which her central character tells her own story * Sunday Times * Both riveting and morally intriguing * Stylist * A gripping tale told in a fiery, compelling voice * Elle Magazine * This captivating novel draws you into one woman's desperate struggle to make her mark in a man's world * Psychologies * An evocative, riveting read * Good Housekeeping * My Notorious Life is wonderful fun. The wit and verve of its unsinkable heroine make this novel a delight to read, even in its most harrowing passages. Beyond that, it's a book that matters-now more than ever. Faithfully true to the time of its setting, it is also extremely relevant to ours * Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls' Rising * The lively, compelling, irreverent voice of Axie springs off the page and keeps the book readable to the end * The List * Evocative ... An epic tale, much like Barbara Taylor Bradford tome, where fortune truly favours the brave girl. A remarkable page turner * Yorkshire Post *