An excursion into the American underworld at the dawn of the twentieth century, the life of an unrespectable Irish woman, and the hidden inner life of any woman who has tried to choose the unconventional path. The legend says that May was compellingly attractive. At 19, she stole her family's savings and ran away to America, where she worked as a grifter, a confidence trickster, a prostitute, a showgirl--and was hailed in tabloids as "Queen of the Underworld." Then she fell in love with a big-league criminal and followed him to Paris where they robbed the American Express. May survived prison, returned to America, and was reborn again and again--falling in love, lapsing back into the criminal life, flirting with legitimacy, writing her memoirs. O'Faolain brings a sympathetic scrutiny to this extraordinary life, reaching across the decades for points of connection. May was born in post-famine Ireland and died in the world of telephones, sportscars, and movies, just before the stock-market crash. Is there a woman's experience they can share? An Irishwoman's experience? An outsider's?--From publisher description.