‘I learnt one thing on my honeymoon – to take drugs’.

Tiger Woman is the autobiography of Betty May, a bohemian wild-child and the unlikely heroine of this truly astonishing story.

Born in a poverty-stricken area of London, we hear Betty’s shocking journey  which culminates in her becoming a notorious 1920s flapper and artists muse, as well as the toast of bohemian London society.

In her own deadpan droll delivery we hear about her numerous marriages and engagements, becoming a dancer in a nightclub, a gang member in Paris, a cocaine addict in London, running her own sweet-shop in the country – not to mention nearly being sacrificed by a religious cult in Sicily.

How all of these adventures manage to happen to one girl I have no idea, but she certainly packed a lot of living into the first few decades of her life!

Her story was first serialized in a newspaper in 1929, and is now being republished as an autobiography released on 17th July. It has lost none of it’s scandalous appeal since it’s first publication, and was an un-put-downable read from start to finish.

With all her wild escapades it’s astonishing that she survived all her adventures to tell her tale, but I’m glad she did. I only wonder what happened to her after her story was published – I’d love to know whether she settled down to a normal life (which I can’t imagine) or whether she carried on having equally riotous adventures!

I was lucky enough to be sent a review copy of Tiger Woman by Betty May but if you can’t wait for yours you can pre-order a copy here.

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