Victorian Murderesses.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blake, Debbie.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.) ill

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2022.

Summary:

The Victorian belief that women were the 'weaker sex' who were expected to devote themselves entirely to family life, made it almost inconceivable that they could ever be capable of committing murder. What drove a woman to murder her husband, lover or even her own child? Were they tragic, mad or just plain evil?Using various sources including court records, newspaper accounts and letters, this book explores some of the most notorious murder cases committed by seven women in nineteenth century Britain and America. It delves into each of the women's lives, the circumstances that led to their crimes, their committal and trial and the various reasons why they resorted to murder: the fear of destitution led Mary Ann Brough to murder her own children; desperation to keep her job drove Sarah Drake to her crime. Money was the motive in the case of Mary Ann Cotton, who is believed to have poisoned as many as twenty-one people. Kate Bender lured her unsuspecting victims to their death in 'The Slaughter Pen' before stripping them of their valuables; Kate Webster's temper got the better of her when she brutally murdered and decapitated her employer; nurse Jane Toppan admitted she derived sexual pleasure from watching her victims die slowly and Lizzie Borden was suspected of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe, so that she could live on the affluent area known as 'the hill' in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Contents:

Cover

Book Title

Copyright

Contents

Chapter 1 A Temporary Frenzy Sarah Drake, London, 1850

Chapter 2 The Esher Tragedy Mary Ann Brough, Surrey, 1854

Chapter 3 The Wretched Woman Mary Ann Cotton, County Durham, 1872

Chapter 4 The Bender Slaughter Pen Kate Bender, Kansas, 18733

Plates

Chapter 5 An Inhuman Monster Kate Webster, Surrey, 1879

Chapter 6 Lizzie Borden's Secret Lizzie Borden, Fall River, 1892

Chapter 7 The Boston Borgia Jane Toppan, Massachusetts, 1901

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Back cover.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-3990-9452-1

OCLC:

1417757707