Aurelie Levy

This historical fiction crime thriller is a bit flat, but I'm giving it a thumbs up for introducing me to the real woman who inspired the story: Stephanie St. Clair. Also known as "Madame Queen," she rose from being a domestic servant as a child in Martinique to running a lucrative numbers racket in Harlem in the 1920s and '30s, living a posh life but also investing and donating some of her profits into the community.

Her story comes through fairly clearly here even when it gets tangled with some unnecessary twists and turns for the sake of the thriller genre.

(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:
• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2023
• Publishers Weekly 2023 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made the PW list.)… (mehr)