Portland Public Library

Did she kill him?, a torrid true story of adultery, arsenic, and murder in Victorian England, Kate Colquhoun

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 351-361) and index

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index present

non fiction

Did she kill him?

bibliography

890107233

Kate Colquhoun

a torrid true story of adultery, arsenic, and murder in Victorian England

"In the summer of 1889, young Southern belle Florence Maybrick stood trial for the alleged arsenic poisoning of her much older husband, Liverpool cotton merchant James Maybrick. The "Maybrick Mystery" had all the makings of a sensation: a pretty, flirtatious young girl; resentful, gossiping servants; rumors of gambling and debt; and torrid mutual infidelity. The case cracked the varnish of Victorian respectability, shocking and exciting the public in equal measure as they clambered to read the latest revelations of Florence's past and glimpse her likeness in Madame Tussaud's. Florence's fate was fiercely debated in the courtroom, on the front pages of the newspapers and in parlours and backyards across the country. Did she poison her husband? Was her previous infidelity proof of murderous intentions? Was James' own habit of self-medicating to blame for his demise? Historian Kate Colquhoun recounts an utterly absorbing tale of addiction, deception and adultery that keeps you asking to the very last page, "Did she kill him?""--, Provided by publisher

March 1889 -- Expectations -- One man's poison -- The marriage question -- Racing -- Dangerous potions -- More like dying htan living -- The slavery of the sickroom -- The letter -- Strong suspicions -- Tests -- Whipped into a frenzy -- Scrutiny -- Locked in -- Scandal -- Public testimony -- First verdict -- Damaged or deviant? -- Second verdict -- Making it stick -- The trial: Day one -- A strange fascination -- The contrariety of things -- Scientific truth -- Dark clouds gathering -- A hundredfold curiosity -- The last curiosity -- The last act -- Public recoil -- The benefit of doubt -- The inexorable passing of the hours -- A colony of dead hopes -- Changed utterly