Chicago's Headmistress

by Loretta Giacoletto

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

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 13, 2012

About the author

Loretta Giacoletto has been named a finalist in the 2015 and 2014 "Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project" for her sagas, Family Deceptions and Chicago's Headmistress. She 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. ITALY TO DIE FOR, from her Savino Sisters Mystery Series, shows how too much togetherness can spell disaster for two thirty-something sisters vacationing in Italy. In REGRETS TO DIE FOR, BOOK 2 of the series, the 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. In LETHAL PLAY a grieving widow is suspected of killing her son's coach, a man with more enemies than friends. 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. The previously mentioned 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

In addition to the horror anthologies, Damned in Dixie and Hell in the Heartland, Loretta's short stories have appeared in a number of publications including The MacGuffin, Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, The Scruffy Dog Review, Allegory and Literary Mama, which nominated her story "Tom" for Dzanc's 2010 Best of The Web.

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very good! I read it all in one day (because I have a job that allows me to read!!) and I will be downloading the Angel's book to finish out the story!
Loved it.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting...

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Nothing should stay the same forever.” Ellis Island and the New York harbor has seen the arrival of millions of immigrants (predominantly from Europe) looking for a new life in the land of opportunity, the United States of America. Each and every person has a story and the majority of them are filled with hardships and depravities. These degradations were born without rancor as returning to the old country was no longer an option. Slowly circumstances improved and eventually adding meat to the American skeleton and now form the majority of the American peoples.

Delila Lobiaco immigrated as a sixteen year old orphan to the United States in 1908. As a girl/woman alone in her new country, she moved from New York to Chicago, Illinois and embarked on a journey out of poverty. The path was long, the trail was crooked and the road was filled with dangers and pitfalls but it eventually leads her out of the darkness and into the light. On October 28, 1919 the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States marked the beginning of prohibition and a time of violence, crime and profit never before known. Delila, now Giulietta Bracca, opens a whorehouse and speakeasy with the unlikely name of Night School. This is a story of a woman’s struggle from the dirty streets to the top of society…….only in America could this happen. I really enjoyed this glimpse into the time of my grandfather, in a world he never knew. Historical fiction at its best, I think this book will appeal to the masses.

[Ilene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for 2 years and decided to finally read it. I really enjoyed it until the end. It just ends with so many questions unanswered. There is another book but it is parallel to this one, not a conclusion. Seeing as it was written several years ago, my guess is that it will forever remain incomplete.

Delilah (eventually Juiletta) is a young girl living in Italy in 1905. Her mother is a whore (hey that's what they were called…this book stayed true to the times and was so un PC). Her mother is out gathering gifts for Delilah's birthday when a client of her mothers stops by and rapes her. She kills him with a stiletto and the mother get the girls 'father' to help dispose of the body. They hatch a plan to come to America, unfortunately the mom dies on the voyage. The man becomes her lover/husband, who knows if her actual father.

They move to Chicago and things go along nicely until the baby is born. He tells her their son died but she believes he killed him…but maybe he didn't. She leaves him and meets Liberty, a Madame. She becomes one of her girls and eventually her understudy.

She with the help of other starts her one business. A lot of the book is about that and her student Carlo, whom she loves but let's him go.

And then it's just over, which I hate. I need some type of ending but all in all it was a pretty interesting story.

[Paul Burnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up from nothing, Delila at age thirteen is raped by a would-be-client of her harlot mother in Genoa, escapes with her consumptive mother and mother’s lover Maurizio, buries her mother at sea, travels to New York and then Chicago. At fourteen she has Maurizio’s baby, suffers her baby’s disappearance, leaves Maurizio to take up work cleaning up at a beauty parlor, then agrees to work at a high-class brothel in an agreement with the madam that she will take over and manage the business after a year’s apprenticeship. And this is just the first few chapters of Delila/Giulietta’s fascinating story spanning the years from 1905 to the 1920’s in gangster-infested Chicago. Her mother Editta always wanted her to marry and live a life of ease and plenty. To what extent Giulietta approaches realization of that goal is what Giacoletto’s novel is about. It is also about a brainy, resourceful woman making her way in a cold world with no resources but her own wits.

[Dee-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waivering between 3 and 4 stars. I dont really like this era, it just feels so dirty, smelly, uncaring and corrupt. The story kept me interested however, but some of the jumps were a bit large and I was hanging out for a good news section. The end caught me by surprise ... I didn't expect it to end when it did as the Kindle said that I had only read <90% of the book, but the remaining 10% was chapters for another book - silly me! I suppose the ending was justified ... but I did not like it.

However, I think that this story could be made into a movie .. it has all the right elements. And it is a good historical piece in that there are real events and people happening in the background (eg. prohibition, Al Capone and the Depression) which give it some real perspective.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giulietta Bracca spends her first 13 years with her mama, the prostitute, in Italy. At 13 she is already a force to be reckoned with. She is already tough and as she gets older, becomes a shrewd business woman. The author has a way of sucking you in and not letting go. I didn’t want to stop listening to this book. Every moment left me wanting more. I am definitely going to read more of Loretta Giacoletto’s other novels.
Thomas Fawley narrates this book flawlessly. I normally don’t care for male narrators reading the female characters especially when a female is the main character, but he really did an incredible job.
This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

[Daniel Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. This novel gives the reader a new and different insight into this world of scandal, wealth, and power through the experiences of a strong woman. I recommend that you read, learn from, and enjoy Chicago's Headmistress.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prosecution:
Found a few grammar issues and would have loved to have a little more of a back story on the mother.

Defense:
Gritty, emotional, and sexually charged, this historical novel set in the early 1900s will rock your socks off. Guilietta is tough and such a great character. Watch her grow from an orphan to a hard shelled woman and all of the in betweens. Absolutely loved the setting and can't wait to read the other books in this phenomenal series.


To read my verdict please go to From Bows to Books

[Catherine Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't what gave me the idea that this was a historical novel of the 1920s is Chicago. But I could not have been further from the truth. More like a trash novel, there is nothing remotely edifying in this read. The story is sensationalist and the characters do not stay consistent within their supposed personality traits.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. I had read The Family Angel first and some of story of that book was in this one but all in all I enjoyed the book. Like that era and the stories of the immigrants coming to America. Good read. Like this writers wring style....

[Therese]

$0.0

[Ananda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would have gotten 4 stars but the ending stinks.

[Willee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these period pieces. Good Book.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grammar and anachronistic language errors detract from an interesting story. Disappointing ending.

[Alasdair Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short, simple and easy read.

[Patsy Bishop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book - a little off the beaten path.

[Marge · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a little too rough for me. I'm not sure I will finish it as other reviewers say the ending is disappointing.

[Willi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believed this to be a historical memoir written by a biographer!It was very well written!I enjoyed it tremendously!

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love historical fiction but this book seemed so shallow to me because the characters did not seem to have a lot of depth.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to have rated this at 3.5 stars. Good reading and it kept me interested.

[Janet Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intriguing story of the roaring twenties, the mafia and the life of a very successful prostitute.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, interesting characters.