True Crime writer Silvia Pettem’s “In Search of the Blonde Tigress. The Untold Story of Eleanor Jarman”

Booktalk with Diana Korte · Jun 2, 2023 · 10m

Silvia Pettem’s “In Search of the Blonde Tigress," dips into the world of sensationalized Chicago newspaper headlines in the 1930s that claimed Eleanor was not only “the blonde tigress,” but also “the most dangerous woman alive.” But a closer look at her life shows that she was an otherwise ordinary woman who got caught up in a Chicago crime spree, then was convicted as an accomplice to murder, and sent to prison for 199 years. She escaped seven years later and managed to live out her life as America’s longest-running female fugitive. Pettem’s research led to police and prison records, court…