Chicago's Headmistress

by Loretta Giacoletto

Overview

Chicago's Headmistress was named a finalist in the 2014 "Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project."

Step back in time to Prohibition and prostitution during the Roaring Twenties. Follow Giulietta Bracca's notorious rise to wealth and power, from street urchin in 1905 Genoa, Italy, to the headmistress of Night School, Chicago's most popular and innovative men's club in the 1920s. Along the way Giulietta plays a deadly game of one-upmanship with men who use her, abuse her, and fall head-over-heels in love with her. This quick-study seductress soon learns to give as good as she gets, and with few regrets--those so devastating they will haunt her into eternity. But there is one man Giulietta will never forget: the immigrant bootlegger she gave up too soon and will stop at nothing to lure him back, even if it means jeopardizing all she holds dear.

A prequel and partial parallel to Giacoletto's Italian/American saga, The Family Angel, Chicago's Headmistress can also stand alone. Every story has more than one side and within a generational saga many stories link and overlap. And as in real life, their endings rarely dissolve into happily ever after. Chicago's Headmistress is told from the perspective of two of The Family Angel's most intriguing characters. In the words of one of them, Ugo Sapone: "Never did I think I'd find myself involved in forward-thinking education. Never did I think I'd find myself involved in an illegal activity that has given so many people such joy. Yet, here I am, right hand man to Giulietta Bracca."

A must-read for fans of The Family Angel, Family Deceptions, The Godfather, and HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940015784046
Publisher:	Marelwood Publishing
Publication date:	11/25/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	383 KB

About the Author

Loretta Giacoletto divides her time between the St. Louis Metropolitan area and Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks where she concentrates on writing fiction, essays, and her blog Loretta on Life while her husband cruises the waters for bass and crappie. Their five children have left the once chaotic nest but occasionally return for her to-die-for ravioli and roasted peppers topped with garlic-laden bagna càuda. An avid traveler, she has visited numerous countries in Europe and Asia but Italy remains her favorite, especially the area from where her family originates: the Piedmont region near the Italian alps.

Loretta's novels are filled with bawdy characters caught up in problems they must suffer the consequences for having created. In LETHAL PLAY a grieving widow is suspected of killing her son's coach, a man with more enemies than friends. ITALY TO DIE FOR, Book 1 from her Savino Sisters Mystery Series, shows how too much togetherness can spell disaster for two thirty-something sisters vacationing in Italy. In Book 2 of the series, the Savino sisters trace their roots to the Italian alpine village of their grandmother and learn why a teenage romance and three mysterious deaths during WWII resulted in her immigrating to America after the war. FAMILY DECEPTIONS follows two generations of earthy characters who learn to thrive and/or survive through a series of misdeeds, the worst against those they love the most. FREE DANNER features a cynical young man whose troubled past and deadly encounters hinder his search for the father he has yet to meet. THE FAMILY ANGEL is an Italian/American saga about the Americanization of an immigrant family of bootleggers, coalminers, winemakers and priests, and a mysterious black angel who enjoys sticking his nose in the family business. CHICAGO'S HEADMISTRESS, a prequel and partial parallel to THE FAMILY ANGEL, follows a 1905 Italian street urchin's notorious rise to wealth and power as the headmistress of Night School, Prohibition Chicago's most popular and innovative men's club in the 1920s. Loretta is also the author of A COLLECTION OF GIVERS AND TAKERS, an anthology of twisted stories about the good, the bad, the self-centered and the disillusioned.

Editorial Reviews

I picked this book up looking for something a little different, and after reading the first few pages, I had to check that it was indeed fiction. Giacoletto writes with such authority that as you follow the characters from the sordid and filthy streets of Genoa, Italy, then on to New York and finally to Chicago, you'd swear this is heavily researched non-fiction - or that the author was there. A marvellous read, I thoroughly recommend it.

Goodreads - Catherine Lea

Ms. Giacoletto with an economy of words and highly visual imagery, drives a fast pace literary look into the life of a young Italian girl, daughter of a prostitute, running from a murder. The story follows a frightened US immigrant's evolution from a crafty lady-of-the-night to the headmaster of her own brothel.

The story of Chicago's seedy underside in the 1920s has been told many times. All of which come from the perspective of the male-dominated mob world.

Goodreads - Daniel Smith

Wonderful story of how a woman during difficult times can survive even the harshest of situations. The author's style made it flow and easy to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Amazon.com - Susan Estes

How wonderful it was to get back into Ms. Giacoletto's *voice* in her recent historical novel, Chicago's Headmistress. Having read all of this author's books, I've found each new story better than the last. Ms. Giacoletto has a unique command of both the English and the Italian languages, adding many fine details to bring her characters and settings to life. I highly recommend this book, as well as Ms. Giacoletto's other family sagas.

Amazon.com - Bonnie Turner