PARLOR GAMES

It's 1887, and because eighteen-year old May firmly intends to be more than a backwoods housewife in Menominee, Michigan, she sets off to make her fortune in Chicago. Equal parts Becky Sharp and Scarlett O'Hara, May is determined to use her wits and considerable wiles to launch her career as world traveler, paid by her role as consort to wealthy men. Her methods occasionally land her in hot water with the law, and it's not long before she attracts the attention of Pinkerton Agent - Reed Dougherty, Private Investigator to the friends and relatives of the wealthy men she beguiles.

After close calls in San Francisco and then Shanghai, the unflappable May encounters real tragedy after falling in love in Tokyo, an affair thwarted by Dougherty with perilous results. Desolate and desperate she bolts to London, where she meets and weds the Dutch Baron Rudolph de Vries. When May's widowed mother pleads for her help, she returns to the U.S. and once again tangles with Dougherty. Meanwhile, the impatient Baron files for divorce, and May seeks solace in companionship with a woman attorney who adores her. After years of friendship her attorney friend accuses May of living off her largesse and files suit. Now, back where she started, a Menominee jury will reach a verdict not only on May's dealings with her friend but on her entire way of life.

Set against the tumult of the turn of the 20th century, May is the precursor to the modern jet-setter. Told in her irresistible voice, this historical romp is based on an extraordinary true story (May Dugas was considered by the Pinkerton Agency as "The Most Dangerous Woman in America") and takes readers on escapades from Mexico to Shanghai, from the Netherlands to London, all the while wondering what fate has in store for the most famous con-woman of an age.

A Stephanie Cabot Book for the Gernert Company.