Description:
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.

Publishing: January 30, 2024

After a slow start, which was needed to set the world, I was drawn in and invested in unraveling the mystery of The Mayor of Maxwell Street. This book feels in conversation with "The Davenports," which might make some interesting annotations. All told, I would recommend reading this with others-there is a lot to talk about.

Set in the 1920's Nelly is thrust into the world of debutantes after becoming an only child. She has a different plan for herself, though and nothing will stop her from them.

I expected a romance and instead got a mystery filled with gangsters, murder, and a dash of upper-class life for black people living in 1920's Chicago.

I had high hopes for this book based on the premise but with next to no plot and characters lacking in development it was a huge disappointment.

I had heard a lot of hype around this book, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I appreciate the author's talent, but the story just didn't grab me. The first 200 pages seemed unnecessary to the overall story. It just wasn't for me, but I would recommend it to people who like historical fiction and this time period. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you netgalley and Hyperion Avenue for allowing me to read this book. This book was one of my favorite books of 2023.

Historical fiction set in 1920s Chicago. The first half is very slow. It was a slog to get through and if I had to read about how every single man in Chicago thought Nelly (the main character) was the most beautiful debutante in the world, I would have screamed. The second half of the story picks up. This is definitely more of a mystery/thriller than a romance.

I received an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley.

What a well- written debut novel! I’m excited for more novels from Avery Cunningham

This is set in 1920 taking place in Chicago. This is the time of corruption & gangsters. This novel touches bases with social and political issues. I loved the compassion when talking about this.

5 stars , I throughly enjoyed the whole storyline
Thank you NetGalley for the early copy!

All Nelly’s rich parents wanted was for her to marry well—meaning into money and status—so that their own hard-won status would be confirmed. But Nelly was not ready to accept that, and since she was both intelligent and extremely strong willed, we get a whale of a story.

Everyone who was anyone among the Black elite was gathered in 1921 Chicago for the Cotillion and Debutante Ball, activities that would get the children married and expand the adults’ wealth, status and influence. But for Nelly this was going to be the ideal time to realize her goal of becoming more than just a socialite. Her charming ways and true adventurousness take us on an often deadly spree through the highest and lowest classes of the city just so she can find the elusive Mayor of Maxwell Street. Her scrapes lead her to fall more than once, and murder is never far away from her, but she is always able to pick herself up again.

Nelly and her suitors Tomás and Jay, as well as her parents and “friend” Sequoia are beautifully portrayed. Not everything is believable, but the story does not falter. This is not only a very enjoyable read but also a way to learn about the constant consideration Blacks had to give to their lives in the light of continuing white prejudice.

Whaaaaat…did I just read?!?

I went into this expecting a romance because of the blurb’s mention of an epic love story, but this is very much not a romance. The Mayor of Maxwell Street is a mystery wrapped up in secrets and lies and so many questions. I found this book nigh impossible to put down because I had to know who the Mayor was and how all these threads were tied together. It has so many heart wrenching elements and I just kept wanting everyone to end up happy and safe. I really loved how wonderfully the story and mystery was tied together and I had suspicions all along but was never sure where things would lead. And that ending! I don’t know how I feel about it! I think it may be a bit of a case of not being the book I wanted, but it was still such an excellent book with engaging, intriguing characters. I highly recommend picking it up if you like twisty mysteries and complex motivations.

Chicago in the 1920s was an excellent setting. The premise had me intrigued. The prologue peeked my interest. Slowly but surely I started to lose interest. It was moving so slowly and it was so long. The "epic love story" didn't quite manifest itself. A lot of the tale was unbelievable for a young black girl in the 1920's. However, at times I was very entertained. I recommend you read it for yourself. I received a copy of Avery Cunningham’s novel The Mayor of Maxwell Street from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall rating: 5

Words cannot explain how much I adored this book. Every moment was completely captivating, and between the characters, worldbuilding, and plot, there’s so much to dive into and analyze as the novel progresses. Historical fiction is not usually the genre I lean towards, but I was completely blown away. For me, this is definitely one of the best books of the year.

The Mayor of Maxwell Street follows Nelly, the daughter of “the richest Negro in America” and her relations with Jay, a rich, biracial man in Chicago. The beginning completely blew me away. It was raw and real and so personal. Throughout the novel, Cunningham succeeds in describing the Black reality, both in the past and the present. Exploring Nelly’s southern charm in tandem with Jay’s suave persona is intriguing and demonstrates their dynamically tender relationship. In a broader sense, Cunningham’s writing throughout the novel was profoundly beautiful, and the continual usage of imagery made me feel as though I was also in the novel, feeling the feelings, seeing the sights, and living their same lives.

The layers within the novel really propelled the novel forward. Cunningham’s inclusion helps diversify and explain the characters. From interracial to mentions of LGBTQ+ relationships, Cunningham’s creation of a well-fleshed out and realistic world helps personify the characters. Though Nelly and Jay’s romance wasn’t explicit, it excelled in a different way. The relationships within the novel were delicate, with Nelly exploring her newfound attraction, devotion, and emotions.

I will note that I questioned Nelly’s character a few times. At the beginning, Nelly throws herself really unsafe, and frankly stupid, situations with no regard for herself or her wellbeing. Despite separating herself from her rich and privileged family, she acts like a rich and privileged young woman. She acts as if she’s privy to information because of her status, and inserts herself into peoples’ lives because of her personal motives. To me, Nelly was selfish at the onset of the novel, and it was kind of hard to like her. Throughout the novel, her character growth was evident, which made the novel more enjoyable. Despite minor gripes, the book was beautifully written.

The Mayor of Maxwell Street is deeper than a historical romance novel. It explores what it means to be human, and what it is to love, as well as the positive and negative implications that come with both facets of life.

* I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Avery Cunningham's debut novel, "The Mayor of Maxwell Street," is a captivating love story set against the historical backdrop of 1921 Chicago. Through the setting and the time period, Cunningham is able to address the racial tension and class warfare present in that time.

Nelly and Jay, shine as complex figures navigating a society torn by Jim Crow, the challenges of the Black upper class, and the violence of Prohibition. The plot, centered on Nelly's undercover mission and her partnership with Jay to expose the Mayor of Maxwell Street, adds suspense and intrigue to the story and keeps readers wanting to know more. Nelly and Jay's relationship is fantastic and is both heartwarming and thought-provoking.

"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."

I love reading about Chicago during this period. AKA the period when my grandmother was roaming its streets.

This is a beautifully written story by a talented new author, in a unique setting which examines racial tension in the 1920s, much of which still carries over to society today.

It took me a few days to finish this book. Historical fictions are usually hard for me to finish however this book was quite good. I found myself actually visualizing the characters in this book. I don’t want to give to much away but I will definitely be purchasing this book to have in my collection

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for providing this ARC.

A very impressive debut, this novel demonstrates the author’s knowledge of the history of Black-white relations in the United States both as chronicled in textbooks and from the inside, as they were likely experienced by African Americans in the early 1920s.

The opening scenario is too familiar in the sense that few readers won’t have read similar stories in history books and novels alike. Jimmy Glass is a poor, hard-working and intelligent young Black man living with his old uncle in a rural Kentucky town. His good looks and good manners work against him when he is singled out by a spoiled, bored rich white girl who wants to seduce him.

Refusing to cooperate because he knows the repercussions, both legal and extra legal, he is made to face them anyway. Her claim of rape is a lie that no Black man can fight. He flees and his old uncle is lynched in his stead.

Jimmy Glass turns up in a completely different guise in Chicago, where he is Jay Shirley, wealthy, cultured, fashionably dressed, and ready to participate in every excess the Jazz Age has to offer to its ‘bright young things.’ His mother was white; he is fair enough to pass, and does so nimbly. But he never really fits into the wealthy echelons on either side of the racial divide, and each uses him to its own purposes.

The author uncovers much less familiar territory when the story moves to Chicago. Here the focus is the tiny but significant minority of wealthy Black businessmen and their families. Despite their fierce cultural pride, they imitate white ways—in this case, holding a ‘cotillion, ’ a series of social events that culminates in a lavish debutante ball, to get their families intermarried, expanding their wealth, status and influence. They also hope that getting a generational hold will give them more power with the white entrepreneurial elite. Mostly, though, their dealings with that group is handled by a viciously violent multicultural group of gangsters, who profess racial equality but don’t practice it.

The crux of the story is Jay Shorey’s status with the Maxwell Street gangs and their mythical kingpin, the ‘Mayor of Maxwell Street.’ He is a negotiator and intermediary between them, the Black elite, and seedier members of the white elite. He both manipulates each side and is manipulated.

In Chicago, his path crosses with that of beautiful, bold Nelly Sawyer, only remaining child of ‘the richest Negro in America.’ Her story begins with her brother’s funeral, which Jay Shorey attends in his phoney rich college boy persona. Their sexual attraction becomes a real tenderness, but the costs, for them, their families, and their few true friends, are shattering.

Cunningham’s attention to the workings of class, gender, and age as compounded by the deep racism of a time that claimed to be a ‘new dawn’ for Black Americans really shatters some well worn myths, and this is the book’s greatest achievement.

The Mayor of Maxwell Street is a historical fiction set to take place in the 1920’s in Chicago. This is a story about a young Black debutante navigating the high expectations and pressures of the socialite community surrounding her as she pursues her own passions, which leads to her having to face incredible danger

I really enjoyed the authors writing. There were a number of moments where I felt I was more able to connect to the characters because of the author's ability to articulate the tension in the scene.

The main struggle I had with this book was the sense of logic and unfolding of events. It honestly has many really great plot twists and the concept of the plot as a whole is extremely intriguing and unique. However, it is advertised as a love story, and the “love story” aspects of it felt more like a side plot until the end when all of a sudden it seemed to take over, which for me didn’t line up with what I was hoping for/expecting.

Regardless, it was still unbelievably entertaining and held my interest! It was a nice change of pace and definitely extremely unique. I absolutely recommend checking it out, I can see myself picking up another future novel by this author!

The Mayor of Maxwell Street is a historical fiction novel taking place in 1920s Chicago and follows the story of Penelope “Nelly” Sawyer, the daughter of the “wealthiest Negro in America” and the sole heir to her family’s fortune after the untimely death of her older brother, Elder. Though not native to Chicago, her family remains there for the summer’s season, in which Nelly is one of the debutantes, though she is older and should have been a part of a cotillion before now. Though Nelly has all the money she could ever need, what she wants more than anything is to have her big break as an investigative journalist with a byline in her own name, so she gets entangled in a dangerous assignment searching for the ever elusive Mayor of Maxwell Street.

As a whole, I enjoyed this book and I was able to read it in its entirety, though I cannot say that I’d read it again. It shined in its ability to transport me to this time period and imagine the events as they unfolded. Though some events were rather far-fetched and some character actions made absolutely no sense, the best part of this for me was unraveling the mystery. Clues were sprinkled throughout and if you pay close attention, you quite easily can figure out who the Mayor of Maxwell Street is. Another thing I particularly enjoyed about the book is that nearly nothing that was brought up was left unused. If a character offered Nelly something, whether that was advice, help, or otherwise, it showed up again later in the story.

As a main character, Nelly is likable enough and I suppose her reasoning for some of her decisions make sense, but a lot of it seemed like girlish naivete to me. Her original reasons for looking for the Mayor of Maxwell Street did not seem convincing enough for the amount of danger and risk until far into the story when she learned one key bit of information. And once she found out that information, her renewed vigor for the search was short lived as we neared the ending which felt rushed.

There were also aspects of the book that left things to be desired for me. While I enjoyed reading the prologue, I wished it were not included as a prologue and rather sprinkled throughout the narrative. As a prologue, it served as just extra information I knew about Nelly’s love interest (though I find it hard to call him that) that she did not, but did nothing for the story as it began for me. In fact, I think I would have liked this piece of information about his backstory to be hidden from me as well because I’d be more invested in Nelly figuring out who exactly Jay Shorey was and where he came from. I wish I was given the opportunity to figure it out too.

The book was also rather long, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel it was bogged down by scenes that could have been kept out. For instance, there was a long scene of conversation in Spanish, which if the intent was to mimic the alienation Nelly felt in the moment, it was more frustrating as a reader than it was enlightening in any way (fortunately, I speak Spanish so I understood, but if I did not I would have skipped that section all together). The scene would have been much more effective with 1-2 lines of narration on the exchange. Cunningham has a way with words that is so unbelievably beautiful and sensory, but sometimes it could be parsed down. The Mayor of Maxwell Street is classified as an epic love story and a historical drama, but I think calling it a love story does it a disservice. There are romantic elements in the story and the characters do mention things about love, but I would not say that any of them love each other, especially not Nelly’s suitors. There is intrigue and lust, but love just does not seem to be a part of the equation. Both love interests seem to cloud Nelly’s judgment and hold her back more than anything to me, and the ending is not a satisfying HEA or even HFN.

Though there are things I would change about the book, I still enjoyed reading it and I think it is a solid debut. Cunningham has a way with words that is satisfying to read and I would read another book by this author just to experience the beauty of her words again.

Enjoyed this historical fiction set in 1920s Chicago. The characters were interesting (a socialite working undercover to expose a crime lord and a white passing man working for the criminal underground) and the storyline was engaging.

The attention to detail for the specifics of the era is evident and greatly appreciated but there is often too much going on and it felt as if some of the secondary characters were. short changed. The pacing was a bit uneven and it felt a bit too long.

Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the advanced copy

The Mayor of Maxwell Street takes readers into the intriguing world of 1921 Chicago, where vice and virtue clash against the backdrop of Prohibition. The novel follows Nelly, a wealthy Black woman, as she joins forces with a speakeasy owner to uncover the the truth of an underground crime ring.

Cunningham successfully takes readers to a time when America was ablaze with societal upheaval and criminal enterprises. The setting and historical period is meticulously crafted, offering a captivating glimpse into the complexities of a bygone era.

Unfortunately the narrative suffers from its length, with too many unnecessary details that slow this book wayyy down causing the plot to lose steam.

While the time period and setting are undoubtedly captivating, the overall execution of the novel falls short feeling both underdeveloped and over-explained. Despite of its shortcomings I did finish the book but wanted more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Publishers for this eARC.