TIGER WOMAN: MY STORY

$284.08

Out of stock

Description

May, Betty

Duckworth, London, 1929. Hardcover. First Edition. An exceedingly rare book. Some shelf-wear, slightly soiled cover and age toning to endpapers. Very Good.

Betty May was born in in Canning Town, (around Tidal Basin) London where she endured an extremely rough childhood. She became an artist’s model, moved in decidedly bohemian circles and migrated to Paris where she hung out with the Apaches (motorised robbers mostly). She was known among the Apaches as ‘The Tiger-Woman.’ She was married three times, her second husband divorced her because of her overuse of cocaine; having cleaned up she married again for love. Her third husband Raoul Loveday whom she had met at the Harlequin club in London was a young Oxford graduate and keen Egyptologist. Together they made a fateful journey to Crowley’s retreat Thelema Abbey in Cefalu, Sicily.

Betty May writes that she detested Crowley but it appears that Loveday was captivated by his personality. Loveday died at Thelema after an illness in slightly mysterious circumstances. Betty May surmises it was after drinking tainted water at a nearby monastery but the rumor (completely false) was that he expired after drinking cat’s blood in a Magick ceremony. The newspaper went mad in England and America with headlines such as ‘Varsity Lad’s Death. Enticed to ‘Abbey’. Dreadful ordeal of a young wife…’ This is where Crowley’s reputation as the Great Beast was made.

Additional information

Weight 0.55 kg