Enigma Woman: THE DEATH SENTENCE OF NELLIE MAY MADISON, The

The Enigma Woman THE DEATH SENTENCE OF NELLIE MAY MADISON Kathleen A. Cairns University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2007. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, xi + 295 pp. $25.95 cloth.

Throughout the 1930s, the exploits of John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and others splashed across the headlines of various newspapers, providing entertainment and diversion for Americans suffering through the Great Depression. However, the focus on the stories of these famous bandits has overshadowed those of other convicted criminals, some who were well known in their own right, including Nellie May Madison. Kathleen A. Cairns resurrects the celebrity status of this so-called femme fatale in The Enigma Woman.

Nellie Madison, born Nellie Mooney, grew up near Dillon, Montana, on a sheep ranch established by her Irish immigrant parents. Raised in the isolated rural West, Madison dreamed of the cities on the Pacific Coast and sought various outlets for entertainment. At the age of thirteen, she ran off with a man who would become the first of her several husbands. Her parents forced her to return to Montana, but shortly thereafter she moved to Idaho and then southern California, all the while marrying and leaving a string of husbands. In California, Madison met and "married" Eric Madison, a Danish immigrant, who proved to be quick to anger and abusive.

In Burbank, California, on March 24, 1934, Madison shot and killed her husband in their apartment and fled the scene, only to be arrested two days later. She soon found herself facing not only a death sentence but also a local press eager for a sensational story. California newspapers quickly identified Madison as the "Enigma Woman" and the "Sphinx Woman." She was characterized as a Wild West woman, a crack shot, a "much married" woman who chose not to be a mother. Only after receiving a death sentence did Nellie come to be seen as a victim of Eric Madison's abuse.

Using court records, contemporary newspaper accounts, and numerous secondary sources, Cairns pieces together the life of Nellie May Madison. This story gives the reader insight into 1930s crime and journalism in sunny California as well as offering a case study of the plight of an abused woman. Cairns not only studies Madison and her crime in the context of the times but also compares her case to similar ones that occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century. The Enigma Woman is a well-written book that offers us an interesting perspective on 1930s America.

Jeremy Johnston

Northwest College, Powell, Wyoming

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