Pulse en una miniatura para ir a Google Books.
Cargando... Black Widow: The true story of Australia's first female serial killerpor Carol J. Baxter
Ninguno Cargando...
Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Premios
She was known as 'The Botany Murderess' or 'Lucretia Borgia of Botany Bay'. Found guilty of using arsenic to murder both her first and second husbands, Louisa Collins' case immediately became the cause celebre of Australia. The thought of a woman murdering her husband was bad enough, but doing it twice ... Collins was brought to trial three times, only for each of the hung juries to be dismissed. Eventually she was found guilty and sentenced to death at her fourth trial in 1888, the result provoking community outrage and claims of an official vendetta. Louisa Collins was executed in 1889...This is a rich and detailed story told in the way only Carol Baxter can, bringing to life so many of the human aspects of our colonial history... No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Debates activosNinguno
Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)364.152Social sciences Social problems and services; associations Criminology Crimes and Offenses Offenses against persons HomicideClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
¿Eres tú?Conviértete en un Autor de LibraryThing. |
Louisa Collins was executed in Sydney, the first female "serial killer" in colonial Australian history. There is so much in this story that seems wrong. For a start there seems to be major question marks about her guilt, not helped by four trials that allowed witnesses, especially her own daughter, to "practice" their evidence. There's even that question of 4 trials in total. Surely there's the whiff of witch hunt there, certainly it's had to avoid the feeling that the male dominated society were not happy about an alleged female husband killer walking free no matter how dodgy the allegations might be. There's also the connections drawn in the book between the demeanour of Collins and that of a more recent case (Chamberlain) where the defendant appeared to be tried, found guilty and convicted based on the court of public opinion. Just because Collins conducted herself in a particular manner in the dock.
Then there's that perennial chestnut of political interference and corruption. The more history is revealed, the more chastened and depressing it is to realise that there has been precious little time when politics was above question - maybe the shining light at the end of that particular tunnel is that these days we know if we care to pay attention.
BLACK WIDOW is a fascinating book to read, it's beautifully constructed, making history come alive, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions on many of the aspects of the story of Louisa Collins.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-black-widow-carol-baxter ( )