Ugly Prey

An Innocent Woman and the Death Sentence That Scandalized Jazz Age Chicago

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Crimes & Criminals, Murder, True Crime, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book Ugly Prey by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Chicago Review Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi ISBN: 9781613736999
Publisher: Chicago Review Press Publication: May 1, 2017
Imprint: Chicago Review Press Language: English
Author: Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
ISBN: 9781613736999
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Publication: May 1, 2017
Imprint: Chicago Review Press
Language: English

An Italian immigrant who spoke little English and struggled to scrape together a living on her primitive family farm outside Chicago, Sabella Nitti was arrested in 1923 for the murder of her missing husband. Within two months, she was found guilty and became the first woman ever sentenced to hang in Chicago. Journalist Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi leads readers through Sabella's sensational case, showing how, with no evidence and no witnesses, she was the target of an obsessed deputy sheriff and the victim of a faulty legal system. She was also—to the men who convicted her and the reporters fixated on her—ugly. For that unforgiveable crime, the media painted her as a hideous, dirty, and unpredictable immigrant, almost an animal.

Lucchesi brings to life the sights and sounds of 1920s Chicago—its then-rural outskirts, downtown halls of power, and headline-making crimes and trials, including those of two other women (who would inspire the musical and film Chicago) also accused of killing the men in their lives. But Sabella's fellow inmates Beulah and Belva were beautiful, charmed the all-male juries, and were quickly acquitted, raising doubts among many Chicagoans about the fairness of the "poor ugly immigrant's" conviction.

Featuring an ambitious and ruthless journalist who helped demonize Sabella through her reports, and the brilliant, beautiful, twenty-three-year-old lawyer who helped humanize her with a jailhouse makeover, Ugly Prey is not just a page-turning courtroom drama but also a thought-provoking look at the intersection of gender, ethnicity, class, and the American justice system.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

An Italian immigrant who spoke little English and struggled to scrape together a living on her primitive family farm outside Chicago, Sabella Nitti was arrested in 1923 for the murder of her missing husband. Within two months, she was found guilty and became the first woman ever sentenced to hang in Chicago. Journalist Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi leads readers through Sabella's sensational case, showing how, with no evidence and no witnesses, she was the target of an obsessed deputy sheriff and the victim of a faulty legal system. She was also—to the men who convicted her and the reporters fixated on her—ugly. For that unforgiveable crime, the media painted her as a hideous, dirty, and unpredictable immigrant, almost an animal.

Lucchesi brings to life the sights and sounds of 1920s Chicago—its then-rural outskirts, downtown halls of power, and headline-making crimes and trials, including those of two other women (who would inspire the musical and film Chicago) also accused of killing the men in their lives. But Sabella's fellow inmates Beulah and Belva were beautiful, charmed the all-male juries, and were quickly acquitted, raising doubts among many Chicagoans about the fairness of the "poor ugly immigrant's" conviction.

Featuring an ambitious and ruthless journalist who helped demonize Sabella through her reports, and the brilliant, beautiful, twenty-three-year-old lawyer who helped humanize her with a jailhouse makeover, Ugly Prey is not just a page-turning courtroom drama but also a thought-provoking look at the intersection of gender, ethnicity, class, and the American justice system.

More books from Chicago Review Press

Cover of the book Cobain on Cobain by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Sharon by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Math Games & Activities from Around the World by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Death of a Commuter by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Whoosh Boom Splat by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Duke Ellington by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book The Trial of Levi Weeks by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Absinthe & Flamethrowers by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Learning About Winter with Children's Literature by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Christopher Columbus and the Age of Exploration for Kids by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Fever and Thirst by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book More Math Games & Activities from Around the World by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Fizz by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Cover of the book Odyssey to Ushuaia by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy