Madcap May: Mistress of Myth, Men and Hope

Shirley J.                 Adult Non-Fiction                        Biography of May Yohe

Madcap May: Mistress of Myth, men and Hope  by Richard Kurin   288 pages

What an interesting lady!  Rumored to have had 13 husbands during her lifetime, May was a world famous actress, singer, stage and vaudeville performer.   One of her husbands was a British Duke who for a time owned the Hope Diamond and when May became a Duchess she was said to wear it out on special occasions.   Later in life when inheiritances were in the balance a couple of people came forward and said they were her children in order to get a share of the wealth but May was adamant about not having given birth to any children.   The cases though long fought were never proven though some witnesses were called, their testimony was labeled here say.   May was born in 1866 and died in 1938 - she experienced the repercushions of the Civil War through the Great Depression and beyond.   She was a world traveller and good friend to kings, presidents, and celebrities and had many tokens of esteem from each.   She experienced extreme highs in life and incredible lows when she went to work as a scrub woman on a dock and took care of her invalid husband whom she had shot at one point.  Such an exciting life she led   I highly recommend this story of quite the historical character that no one ever heard of.   Go, May!