What an unlikely pair to team up to bring down the notorious mob boss, “Lucky” Luciano! First meet Eunice Carter, the first Black woman to serve as a Manhattan’s prosecutor and who was chosen to be on the DA’s team to eliminate the tyranny of the mob in the 1920’s and 1930’s. While she was at first generally ignored and pushed aside, her out-of-the-box thinking and utter ingenuity was the ultimate key to permeating the cracks in the mob’s defense. But she could not do this alone. She was smart enough to enlist the assistance of the most famous madame in Manhattan: Polly Adler. Polly, who came to NY, alone, as a twelve year old Russian Jewish immigrant and worked her way up after much trauma and determination, provided the ultimate material to be used in the trial. This story is the fictionalized version of their dramatic and dangerous teamwork.
Reflecting the teamwork of the actual story was the teamwork required to write this novel. The two authors wrote seamlessly to depict the strain and the challenges of each woman and her role in being caught up in this legal morass. We learn of the toll the investigation and trial took on Eunice’s marriage and family life, as she risked both physical and emotional danger. We also learn of Polly’s determination not to be engulfed by the mob’s plan to centralize all prostitution in the city, primarily because of the toll it would take on the women she was determined to protect.
I also love this narrative, as it demonstrates how we are stronger together. While both women had challenging lives in different ways, and both experienced prejudice and malice and mistreatment, and lived in entirely different worlds, they were able to come to understand each other’s challenges, grief, and resentments. They were able to put aside their differences to come together, to work together and to trust each other in order to accomplish a shared goal. This is a lesson for us all, I believe.
This is a dramatic story – based in actual history – that was meant to be told. I cannot think of two more capable women to do this telling!
