Dancer, singer, gang member, cocaine addict and artist’s favourite: Betty May – aka the Tiger Woman – was a woman like no other.

Born into abject poverty in Limehouse, Betty May used her striking looks and fierce street nous to become an unlikely bohemian celebrity sensation between the wars. A model and muse for artists and writers including Augustus John, Jacob Epstein, Jacob Kramer and David Garnett, May elbowed her way to the top of London’s social scene in a succession of outrageous and dramatic fights, flights, marriages and misadventures that also took her to France, Italy, Canada and the USA.

Tiger Woman is her incredible story in her own words, as vivid and extraordinary as the day it was first told.