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Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen
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About This Book
This is the story of a murder, not a murderer . . . In Story of a Murder, bestselling author of The Five and celebrated historian Hallie Rubenhold reexamines the events leading up to the infamous Crippen murder from the perspectives of the three women at the center of it all. When Belle Elmore's remains were discovered in the basement of London's 39 Hilldrop Crescent in July 1910, the larger-than-life vaudevillian performer was launched into stardom she never achieved on the stage. Story of a Murder provides an intricately plotted, intimate look into the lives of three multifaceted women living during a time of electric progress and stifling Crippen's first wife, Charlotte, who died under mysterious circumstances; his mistress, Ethel, who claimed ignorance of his crime even as she escaped with Crippen disguised as his son; and Belle, the woman whose life Crippen took. Throughout the twentieth century, the infamous Crippen murder was told in such a way as to cast doubt on Crippen's guilt and to victim-blame his wife Cora for her own murder. It also astonishingly depicted Crippen's younger mistress, Ethel, as innocent of any involvement in the killing of her love rival. But new evidence unearthed by Rubenhold completely subverts this famous history, unravelling assumptions about the crime and deconstructing Edwardian beliefs about women, class aspiration, and the transatlantic world, ultimately proving that Charlotte, Belle, and Ethel were so much more than the passive victims history has portrayed them as.
Reviews
"Rubenhold's intention here is to divert attention away from the doctor...and put Cora back at the centre of the story."
"A satisfying read that gives the impression that some new justice has been done."
"Rubenhold's energy as a researcher is indefatigable, and admirable ..."
"Rubenhold's work is a story of female resilience and solidarity in response to terrible circumstances."
"One of the many features of Edwardian life that Rubenhold evokes brilliantly is the Music Hall Ladies' Guild, an organisation set up in 1906 to raise funds for female music-hall performers who had fallen on hard times."
"While Rubenhold is at pains to demote Crippen's creepiness in the tale—and she succeeds by portraying him as an abject professional failure—it is undeniable that the book's greatest momentum comes from the murder itself ..."
"Masterfully reinvestigates an infamous case in a thoroughly modern way, revealing the women behind the gruesome headlines and restoring dignity to Belle Elmore."
"Astonishing and deeply researched ..."
"Synthesizes perceptively the many millions of words that have been written about the Crippen trial."
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