Along the way he finds companions — a youth mourning a lost brother, a widowed nurse seeking a new life and Aiden, a bold sergeant escaping a vengeful father. While all of them touch Joshua, it is the strong yet nurturing Aiden who will awaken his heart, leaving him forever changed. Set within a besieged Appalachian forest during a time of tragedy, The Fallen Snow charts an extraordinary coming of age, exploring how damaged souls learn to heal, and dare to grow. John J Kelley is a fiction writer crafting tales about healing, growth and community.
Born and raised in the Florida panhandle, he graduated from Virginia Tech and served as a military officer. After pursuing traditional careers for two decades, he began writing. He lives in Washington, DC, with his partner of eighteen years and can often be found wandering Rock Creek Park or hovering over his laptop at a local coffee shop. John recently completed his debut novel, a work of historical fiction set at the close of the First World War. The Fallen Snow explores the emotional journey of a young infantry sniper returning to a remote mountain community reeling from war, influenza and economic collapse.
Review by Gerry Burnie I have done a fair amount of research into WWI — , and because of it I have developed a real admiration for the young men who fought and died in unfamiliar places like Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. The story follows the experience of one young man from the rural uplands of Virginia to the battlefields of Alsace Lorraine, France, and back again.
However, the man who left Virginia is not the man who returned; not emotionally, anyhow. Complicating this even further is the fact that Joshua Hunter is also gay, which in the context of the time and rural setting was yet another source of emotional distress. Along the way he meets a variety of characters, each with their own story, but only Aiden has the strength to help Joshua come to grips with himself. I thought the author did quite a good job of depicting the battlefield scenes, although I would have liked to see them a bit more stark to reflect the reality of it, and even though I am unfamiliar with Virginia, I was able to visualize the Appalachian setting quite well.
I could also identify with the insular society of his village, and with his ultra-conservative family.
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When an old druid foresees this harbinger of chaos, he also sees whom it will claim: But when Gamelyn Boundys, son of a powerful nobleman, is injured in the forest, he and Rob begin a friendship that challenges both duty and ideology: Gamelyn is a devout follower of the Catholic Church. Rob understands the divide between peasant and noble all too well. In a risky bid for happiness, Rob dares the Horned Lord to reinterpret the ancient rites—to allow Rob to take Gamelyn as a lover instead of a rival.
To me 12th-century England was a fascinating time, filled with knights, squires, wizards, and wonderfully mystical religions, all functioning in and around vast, primeval forests where Druids practiced their ancient rites. As such, it is somewhat difficult to categorize this genre. Certainly Greenwood Forest and Druids existed, as did priories, convents, and the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church. Fortunately, this author has captured a good part of the dark and primitive atmosphere, which was circa-Crusade England, as well as the mix of old and new religions that existed at the time, and this scores well with me.
After all, a period novel should be first and foremost true to the period. I also like the plot, once again because it is consistent with the period. Rob is the son of a respected yeoman forester, but at the same time he is more than that. This is a gutsy twist on a major classic that works. Not only that, but because of the realism, I believe it a step forward.
A special mention as well for the absolutely stunning cover art. February 11, Posted by Gerry B. He is all too aware of the tenuous thread that ties him to this earth—as he writes a letter home to his sister, he realizes he may be among the dead by the time she receives the missive. His melancholy mood is shared by other soldiers in the campsite; in the cool Virginia night, the pickets claim to hear ghosts in the woods, and their own talk spooks them.
The last time the two had seen each other, Sam had been heading west to seek his fortune, and had promised to send for Andy when he could. Then the war broke out, and Andy had enlisted in the Confederate Army to help ease the financial burden at home. Apparently Sam had similar ideas—he now wears the blue coat of a Union solider.
Sam is severely wounded and infection has begun to set in. One of my favourite genre settings is the American Civil War. This is the sense I found in J. It is a powerful opening, and true, for death was always just one breath away in this conflict. Snyder also does quite a fine job of capturing the tense environment of the encampment, frequently in sight of the enemies picket fires, and surrounded by the yet-to-be-retrieved wounded and dead.
His men fear the voices of ghosts when they hear an enemy soldier crying out for water, but Blanks recognizes it as such and takes a lantern and a canteen in search of him. The story goes that on hearing the cries of wounded Union soldiers: He ventured back and forth several times, giving the wounded Union soldiers water, warm clothing, and blankets. Soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies watched as he performed his task, but no one fired a shot. At first, it was thought that the Union would open fire, which would result in the Confederacy returning fire, resulting in Kirkland being caught in a crossfire.
However, within a very short time, it became obvious to both sides as to what Kirkland was doing, and according to Kershaw cries for water erupted all over the battlefield from wounded soldiers. Kirkland did not stop until he had helped every wounded soldier Confederate and Federal on the Confederate end of the battlefield.
Whether or not Snyder was aware of this story is immaterial. What is relevant is that it makes a most powerful device by which to reunite Blanks with his tragically lost love, Samuel Talley. My quibbles are almost too trivial to mention, but at times I felt the coincidences were just a bit convenient. Sometimes a single letter can make all the difference. Thanks so much for such fantastic reading. Your words make the characters come alive and become someone we care about, and to me that is what makes a great author.
Thanks ever so much for you dedication to these books, their research, etc. Thanks ever so much again. February 4, Posted by Gerry B. Love was the last thing Todd Webster Morgan expected to find while searching for gold in s California. Hardened beyond his nineteen years, Todd Webster Morgan is determined to find gold high in the Sierra Nevadas. But his dream is violently upended. His invalid uncle becomes increasing angry. Todd seeks employment with little success. But their relationship is strained as anti-Chinese sentiment grows. The couple must risk everything to make a life for themselves.
A life that requires facing fear and prejudice head on. As the years flew by, he wrote more, hid less not really , and branched out to Super 8 films and cassette tape recorders. Most reviews I have read have dipped into the superlative bag for apt descriptors, and I must agree. Each character has a distinctive voice that sets him or her apart while contributing to the over all story. One of the regrettable aspects of frontier society was the degree of prejudice against certain ethnic societies, i.
The miners resented them because they saw them as competition, and distrusted them because they tended to stick to their own communities, which is not surprising since they were generally shunned elsewhere. As a result the Chinese were subjected to all manner of abuse, even murder, and Brennessel has done quite a credible job of portraying this. Coming of Age on the Trai l: A number of people have inquired about my forthcoming novel, and where they can find more information on it. So, to Answer both queries click on the banner below to be taken to the new URL, and follow the links you will find there.
Thanks for your interest. I will finish the pre-edit draft in about 2 — 3 days, and after one more re-write it will be on its way. Watch for it early summer See you next week. January 21, Posted by Gerry B. Daniel Allouez, whose father is French and mother is Ojibwe Indian, enters into the war not only to fight the enemy, but to discover who he is at the crossroads of race, religion, and sexual orientation. While these elements form the backdrop, and at times provide some exciting drama, the main theme here is spirituality—both Christian and Native.
Being part Ojibwe himself, the author has provided some fascinating insights into Ojibwe spiritual beliefs, including Two Spirit culture, as the main characters, Daniel and Rorie, come to terms with divergent beliefs and their sexuality. I was also struck by the way the author emphasized the reverence and respect Natives held for the environment around them without flogging the point. For indeed, that is how it was.
It was a natural as etiquette is today—or was. In a country with two distinct cultures, and an underlying current of nationalism, that is a big deal. That said, this is history as it should be told and taught: A history lesson that can be absorbed while enjoying a truly enjoyable story. January 14, Posted by Gerry B. Canadian content , Canadian frontier stories , Canadian historical content , Coming out , Fiction , Gay fiction , Gay historical fiction , Gay romance , Historical Fiction , Historical period Leave a comment.
Grieving over the death of his lover, British flying ace Bat Bryant accidentally kills the man threatening him with exposure. The tale is set at an allied air base in France during WWI. Captain Bat Bryant is a British flying ace with an Eton College background, and as the story opens he is being confronted by a potential blackmailer. At KB this ranks as a short story, which I tend to like because of their distillation of events. Author Lanyon appears to understand this appeal as well, for he has staunchly adhered to the three basic rules; i.
There is no dallying here. The prose is spare but efficient, the characters tend to develop as they go along mostly relying on dialogue for their personalities , and the era and setting get a just-enough amount of description. Having said that, there is very little missed. Nonetheless, this is a bang-up story that gets my enthusiastic recommendation. Just received notice of the Goodreads Choice Awards So best of luck, but no thanks. October 29, Posted by Gerry B.
Trouble begins when the fat lady sings. Her triumph is sweet. But, only hours later, the diva lies near death in a hotel room upstairs, the victim of a vicious beating. In Southwest Florida in January , almost anyone who wanted to have a little illicit fun put his—or her—life on the line. Dealing cards, serving untaxed mixed drinks and selling the services of escorts of both sexes, he acts as if he has nothing to lose. Bud, his secret lover, is a former Marine sergeant twice decorated for valor.
Strong and brave but deeply conventional, he lives with the uneasy knowledge that every time he and Dan make love they commit a felony according to the laws he is sworn to uphold. The Caloosa, exposed to the pitiless glare of a front-page homicide investigation, attracts unwanted attention.
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The mounting pressure, instead of forging a stronger bond between Dan and Bud, threatens to tear them apart. As the jeopardy to both escalates, Dan realizes he may lose the one man who holds the key to the peace and harmony of his postwar world. As a very green second lieutenant he commanded a squadron of cooks and bakers, later achieving the rank of captain. He lives in Atlanta with his partner of 40 years. Review by Gerry Burnie http: Both are good strong characters, but it is Dan who is the stronger, mostly on account of being comfortable in his own skin.
One of the areas that I thought Mackle captured very well was the schizoid thinking of the time, regarding homosexuality. Homophobia was very much to the fore, of course, but even those who were somewhat sympathetic i. Moreover, the over-the-top reaction of some homophobics made a nice bit of tension while the plot was unfolding. An aspect that is very often overlooked. My quibbles are minor. While persecution is an undeniable aspect of GLBT life that has existed since the advent of Christianity, the burden of this one particular theme is becoming repetitious.
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Her submission is about her municipality of Richer. To cast your vote, go to: October 15, Posted by Gerry B. The Third Reich is on its knees as Allied forces bomb Berlin to break the last resistance. When Baldur narrowly cheats death, Felix pulls him from his plane, and the pilot makes his riskiest move yet. As the Allies close in on the airfield where Felix waits for his lover, Baldur must face the truth that he is no longer the only one in mortal danger.
Aleksandr Voinov is an emigrant German author living near London where he makes his living as a financial journalist, freelance editor and creative writing teacher. After many years working in the horror, science fiction, cyberpunk and fantasy genres, Voinov has set his sights now on contemporary and historical erotic gay novels. But it does make them wiser, and often stronger people.
It is a natural outcome of my passion for history, and my self-identification with those who have faced the harsh brutalities of war. Courage like this should not be forgotten lest we make the same mistake again. Two individuals caught up in the confict, Germans, seeing the evil regime of which they are part crumbling around them, and yet fighting on through a stalwart—but misplaced—sense of duty.
Well … One of them is, anyway. Baldur Vogt, a Luftwaffe ace, bold, handsome and dashing, flies his missions because it is what he does. On the other hand, Felix, a ground-crew mechanic does what he does to keep the man he loves Baldur as safe as he can make him, and with that simple revelation the whole perspective of war changes. But that is only one thread in this complex tapestry, for Felix despairs that Baldur will ever respond in the way he Felix has dreamed. Nonetheless, fate will have its way, and when Baldur somewhat miraculously escapes a bullet that otherwise had his name on it, he celebrates by taking Felix away for a few days of relaxation.
Indeed, when it happens one cannot imagine it being any other way. That remains for readers to discover, but it is almost a textbook example of the short story art; i. Click on the banner to go to the site. October 8, Posted by Gerry B. Their story unfolds in the clandestine and precarious gay underworld of the time, which is creatively but vividly created. Through a series of encounters— some exhilarating, some painful, some mysterious—Tom matures, until an unexpected act of violence provokes a final resolution.
His short fiction is set in New York City in the years Characters often reappear in other novels and, quintessentially, in poetry in the form of monologs. He has helped two aspiring authors, a Sister of Mercy and a gay inmate in North Carolina, write their memoirs. I know almost northing about New York now or in the s, but after reading The Pleasuring of Men by Clifford Bowder [Gival Press; 1 edition, ] I am sure I have a fairly credible idea of what it was like.
Indeed, we get our first impression from Tom Vaughan the protagonist and first-person narrator in the opening of Chapter 1, i. He came to us correctly dressed in a gray frock coat, fawn trousers, and bland pointed shoes, with a scarf pin and cuff links that glittered, and a boyish look that I, myself sixteen found stupendously appealing. However, as shocked as he might be, he decides that this is the life for him.
Being a quick learner Tom is soon out on his own, pleasuring the grey set with his charms, and being generously rewarded in return. Eventually Tom is sent to the townhouse of Walter Whitling, a formidable scholar in just about everything, including the Greek language, and after a rather tempestuous getting-to-know-one-another, the older scholar agrees to teach Tom Greek in the manner of an Erastes with his Eromenos. Altogether this is a tale encompassing both sophisticated wit and humour, and yet the subject matter is the grotty underbelly of society as enacted by its leading citizens—including the Reverend Timothy Blythe, D.
It is absolutely delightful. I had almost forgot about it until someone requested it, the other day. Something I found interesting was that the visitors count at that time was 13,! To see the report, click on the image or go to: All of my web pages now have new URL address. Gerry Burnie Books now resides at http: It can now be found at: Or click on the image. October 1, Posted by Gerry B. After losing everything he held dear one fateful night, he decides to leave New York and his past behind, and joins the French Foreign Legion.
A Timeless Dreams title: Learn more about Charlie and her writing at her website or visit her blog. Upon seeing that The Auspicious Troubles of Chance, by Charlie Cochet [Dreamspinner Press, ] was a story involving the French Foreign Legion—that romanticized bastion of rugged masculinity set in the middle of a desert—it peaked my curiosity. That said, it is a charming story populated with interesting, colourful characters. Chance Irving is an orphan dropped off at a New York orphanage when he was seven years old.
Subsequently he escapes to a life on the streets, and is thereby rescued by a young actress, who, along with her fellow thespians, give Chance a substitute family and home. Nonetheless, Chance is a rebel in the ranks until he encounters the commandant of an unusual company, Jacky Valentine. Valentine is a people person, gifted with insight and a disarming wit and charm. It is a good story. The outstanding features are the effortless prose and the recreation of the period s. A nice bit of research has gone into describing the Foreign Legion as well, but here I would have liked to see more.
The character development is also excellent: What took the top off for me was the beginning and end. However, the middle redeemed itself quite admirably, and held my interest until the end. The pluses outweigh the quibbles, though, so for an interesting, well developed plot I give it four bees. September 24, Posted by Gerry B. As their journey extends from the cramped and miserable depths of a prison ship to the vast, untamed Australian outback, Colin and Patrick must build new lives for themselves.
After writing for years yet never really finding the right inspiration, Keira discovered her voice in gay romance, which has become a passion. She writes both contemporary and historical fiction and — although she loves delicious angst along the way — Keira firmly believes in happy endings. For as Oscar Wilde once said:. In addition to the Canadian and American frontiers, the Australian outback is an equal favourite.
Similar ingredients apply, of course: This story is slightly different inasmuch as it commences in England, but most of the other ingredients are there. Colin Lancaster is the privileged son of English gentry, and is thereby accustomed to the pampered lifestyle that goes along with it. On the other hand Patrick Callahan is an Irish stable hand, and under ordinary circumstances the two should never have found common ground apart from being master and servant.
However, at sixteen Colin witnesses a tryst between Callahan and another male servant, and the impact of it throws Colin into a turmoil. Nonetheless, Colin frequently dreams of being taken advantage of by the earthy Patrick Callahan. As fate would have it Callahan has the misfortune of being caught in the act of sodomizing another male, and is in immanent danger of being lynched. The real adventure starts the moment they board the prison ship—generally anchored offshore until a full load was achieved—and although Ms Andrews has done a good job of describing the harsh conditions aboard ship, the reality is they were frequently much worse.
During this voyage Colin is nearly raped and Patrick almost dies, but through it all Colin maintains a stoic optimism of starting a new life with Patrick. Patrick, on the other hand, is more of an enigma. We know he has been emotionally scarred in the past, and that he has steeled his heart on account of it; nevertheless, there is nothing that binds two males together like the sharing of adversity, i.
In the aforementioned, the characters are social opposites with the baser character taking the lead. In this story, however, it is Colin who possesses the inner strength. The juxtaposition works, but the result is that Patrick is not as well developed as he could be. Nevertheless the description is first rate, and it is this that keeps the rating well up there. An outstanding plot, likeable characters, and a first-rate adventure.
There will also be 3 copies available for giveaway on Goodreads http: I will post direct link once it is active approx 2 days. Giveaway will last until 3 Oct September 2, Posted by Gerry B. Horses, love, and the tang of thyme and honey…. In Classical Greece, apprentice sculptor Philon has chosen the ideal horse to model for his masterpiece. Sadly, the rider falls well short of the ideal of beauty, but scarred and tattered Hilarion, with his brilliant, imperfect smile, draws Philon in a way that mere perfection cannot.
After years of living among the free and easy tribes of the north, Hillarion has no patience with Athenian formality. He knows what he wants—and what he wants is Philon. Society, friends and family threaten their growing relationship, but perhaps a scarred soldier and a lover of beauty are more alike than they appear. Elin Gregory lives in South Wales and has been making stuff up since However, there are always new works on the go and she is currently finishing a novel about pirates, planning one set in 6th century AD England and contemplating one about the British Secret Service between the two World Wars.
Heroes tend to be hard as nails but capable of tenderness when circumstances allow. Historical subjects predominate but there are also contemporary and historical paranormals, science fiction, crime and a Western. His character is rounded out be his fellow apprentice, Anatolios, a precocious thirteen-year-old. This is a sweet, uncomplicated story that focuses on romance in a romantic setting. In fact they are rather standard fare.
Philon is the struggling good boy, Aristion is the spoiled rich kid, Anatolios is the impish-catalyst, and Hilarion is the mature kid who is attracted to the good boy. Altogether, Alike as Two Bees is a happy-ever-after story that will pleasantly fill an afternoon at the beach, or an evening curled up in your easy chair. This is my experience: I wrote with my concerns to the email address provided, but I have yet to receive an acknowledgement or response. So judge for yourself. August 26, Posted by Gerry B. Published well ahead of its time, in by Greenleaf Classics, Song of the Loon is a romantic novel that tells the story of Ephraim MacIver and his travels through the wilderness.
Along his journey, he meets a number of characters who share with him stories, wisdom and homosexual encounters. The most popular erotic gay book of the s and s, Song of the Loon was the inspiration for two sequels, a film of the same name, at least one porn movie and a parody novel called Fruit of the Loon. Unique among pulp novels of the time, the gay characters in Song of the Loon are strong and romantically drawn, which has earned the book a place in the canon of gay American literature. Imagine, therefore, that the Song of the Loon , by Richard Amory [re-released by Arsenal Pulp Press, May 1, ] was first published three years before Stonewall, and 16 years before the Bathhouse Raids.
That make it a true artefact, and as an unapologetic homoerotic novel, it is also somewhat of a legend. However, they were generally badly written, and could only be purchased through P. Although I was aware of Song of the Loon , and remember the making of the , motion picture version, starring John Iverson, Morgan Royce and Lancer Ward, I never got around to reading the novel until now. The plot and style are noteworthy, as well. This is not to belittle the story in any way, for I think we have all wished for a Garden of Eden existence where the inhabitants are all hunky and horny, the risks are minimal, and homophobia does not exist.
If you are looking for the ultimate feel good story, you should give this one a try. More than three hundred men were arrested, the largest mass arrest in Canada since the October crisis,[1] before the record was broken during the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Edmonton, Alberta. August 12, Posted by Gerry B. It seemed like a simple job—guide Josh and Sarah to Bow Ridge to live with their aunt until they reached their 18th birthday. It was want [sic] their aunt Rebecca wanted, and the best choice Calico Ramsey thought he could make. But someone wants them dead, which makes no sense to Calico.
Neither do the feelings aroused by the nearness of the handsome young man from Chicago-feelings that seem to be returned, and nothing in his past has prepared him for either. If it is possible to have a split personality without being schizophrenic, Dorien Grey qualifies.
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It has reached the point where Roger merely sits back and reads the stories Dorien brings forth on the computer screen. I love a good western—especially if it is written in the classical style of Calico , by Dorien Grey [Zumaya Publications, ]. To me this genre speaks of an earlier, simpler time, populated by strong, independent men and women who set the foundation of our present-day nation s. To get the plot rolling, Dan is unexpectedly named guardian of his twin, seventeen-year-old niece and nephew, Sarah and Josh, who are on their way from Chicago. Moreover, the plot thickens when it becomes evident that someone is out to kill them.
Since Calico is the oldest at 27 he assumes the role of leader, and also undertakes to protect Josh and Sarah from harm; a not-so-easy task when confronted by fires, rock slides, stampedes, and the like. But, as the old saying goes: Having said that, I should point our that while this is a sweet, romantic relationship, it is strictly Platonic when is comes to sex. Most adolescents could give us chapter and verse on sex and sexual practices, so where does one draw the line? Nonetheless, while I demand a good plot, I am very content with a story that is sensual rather than erotic.
So Dorien gets full marks on the romantic side. My only complaint has nothing to do with this excellent, engaging, and well-written story. So someone should get their knuckles rapped for this one. July 29, Posted by Gerry B. Painfully introverted and rendered nearly mute by a heavy stammer, Lord George Albert Westin rarely ventures any farther than the club or his beloved gardens. He finds the orchid, yes…but he finds something else even more rare and exquisite: He is master of his own world—until Wes. Not only because, for once, the sex is for pleasure and not for profit.
They are joined by tendrils of a shameful, unspoken history. The closer his shy, poppy-addicted lover lures him to the light of love, the harder his past works to drag him back into the dark. Help Wes face the fears that cripple him—right after Michael finds the courage to reveal the devastating truth that binds them. July 22, Posted by Gerry B. Rafe Colman likes his life. He has a nice home, a good job, and a wonderful dog. Rafe knows from tragic experience how vicious prejudice can be. Every second with Ben is stolen, every kiss fraught with danger.
This is the second of Z. These include the death of his parents and the murder of his dearest friends, a gay couple, and so he is understandably and profoundly affected by these events. The problem with role playing of this nature is that it sublimates the real person inside, and no one can be allowed behind the scenes for a closer look. It is not all cotton candy and roses, however, but at least the promise of an HEA ending is there. The character-development is also topnotch, which adds greatly to the credibility of their actions, and the pace allows the reader to appreciate both these aspects.
The drawback for me was the somewhat obvious story manipulation, resulting in resolutions that were just a bit on the convenient side. I hasten to add that these were not incredible in nature, but they were noticeable enough to affect my score. Altogether, though, I have no hesitation in recommending Secret Light as an enjoyable read for all its great parts.
July 15, Posted by Gerry B. Fiction , Gay fiction , Gay historical fiction , Gay romance , Historical Fiction , Historical period literature , writing Leave a comment. In , Michael McCready returned from the war with one goal: Once a promising young medical student, Michael buried his dreams alongside the broken bodies of the men he could not save. After fleeing New York to preserve the one relationship he still values, he takes a position as a gardener on a country estate, but he soon discovers that the house hides secrets and sorrows of its own. He and John find their battle of wills turning into something stronger, but fear may keep them from finding hope and healing in each other.
A long-time student of history, she is particularly interested in helping to tell the hidden stories that are only now being rediscovered. Some of her hobbies include playing music, video remixing, and photography. Perhaps, this is because it is her debut novel, or perhaps it is because the Canadian connection just never made it to the surface. Bonds of Earth is a historical fiction set in the period directly following WWI. Out of this hell came two men, Michael McCready, the son of poor Irish immigrant and a brilliant medical student, and John Seward, a wealthy recluse, both indelibly scarred by the experience.
The fact that Michael is the equivalent of a massage therapist, and that John is handicapped is serendipitous as well. This bit of angst greatly contributes to the characterization of the two protagonists, and leads inevitably to the resolution. I also liked the way she gave character to the supporting cast; each one serving a secondary role but interesting in their own way. The tenor of the times is captured nicely, as well, and the pace is good … right up until as it has been mentioned at least a dozen times the epilogue.
July 8, Posted by Gerry B. By the close of , the inhabitants of the American West had earned their reputation as untamed and dangerous. The line between heroes and villains is narrow and indistinct.
The concept that a man may only kill if backed into a corner is antiquated. Lives are worth less than horses. Treasures are worth killing for. And the law is written in the blood of those who came before. The only men staving off total chaos are the few who take the letter of the law at its word and risk their lives to uphold it. Abigail Roux was born and raised in North Carolina.
A past volleyball star who specializes in pratfalls and sarcasm, she currently spends her time coaching middle school volleyball and softball. Any spare time is spent living and dying with every Atlanta Braves and Carolina Panthers game of the year. Abigail has a little girl they call Boomer, four rescued cats, one dog, a certifiable extended family, and a cast of thousands in her head.
However, being plot driven it has somewhat more sophistication than shoot-em-up. The crux of the story comes in the second half when Flynn and Washington undertake to deliver Rose and Cage to justice in New Orleans, and to do so they take a riverboat down the mighty Mississippi. Cloistered, so-to-speak, the four men cannot help but interact, and Rose, the plot catalyst, sets the pace by openly taking a shine to the enigmatic Cage. Dusty is the one to do it, of course, because he is written as a glib-talking, iron dandy, who makes no apologies for his preference for men, and as their relationship develops it gets Flynn and Wash thinking romantically as well.
By way of a parallel plot there is a valuable artefact on the boat, and its allure attracts the attention of the sinister Stringer and his band of outlaws. This inevitably causes some rethinking and reshaping of trusts and alliances. Overall, I liked it for the complexity of plot, and the adherence to classic western principles; i. But while we are on the topic of sex and sexual orientation, I did find the occurrence of four same-sex-oriented characters in the same plot a bit much.
Yes, there probably was as much same-sexual activity as there is today [see: I also had a bit of difficulty following the plan for the heist. However, that may be just me. Recommended as a good read. Something about a GLBTQ story set there published or about to be , or about an author who lives there. Some research set in the vicinity or a link to a character from a story born there, left in disgrace, or the like. Basically it is the same story as in Coming of Age on the Trail, but in two parts. June 3, Posted by Gerry B.
After tragically losing a rare love, Tory immerses himself in the pages of a Wild West mail-order bride magazine, where he stumbles on the advertisement of frontiersman and Civil War veteran Franklin Ausmus. Torsten and Franklin begin an innocent correspondence—or as innocent as it can be, considering Torsten keeps his true gender hidden. School Life in Paris. The Romance of Violette. Grushenka, Three Times a Woman. The Lustful Turk Illustrated. Sadopaideia Harper Perennial Forbidden Classics.
The Adventures of Lady Harpur. Her Brother and Her Lover Illustrated. Flossie, A Young Venus. Diary of an Oxygen Thief. The Metamorphosis of Lisette Joyaux. Eveline In Three Complete Volumes. The Confessions of Nemesis Hunt. Souvenirs From A Boarding School. Jean-Charles Gervaise de Latouche. How to write a great review. The review must be at least 50 characters long. The title should be at least 4 characters long. Your display name should be at least 2 characters long.
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The exact time of her death remains in dispute, but the burden of medical evidence suggests that she died between 3: Although her body was discovered around They did, however, summon a police photographer, who took pictures of the victim through the broken window. Even the briefest cata- logue of the injuries makes for repugnant reading. Once again he tried and failed to decapitate her.
After this he sliced off both breasts as well as her nose and dumped some of her abdominal organs on the bedside table. Although no weapon was ever found at or near the crime scenes, the police and the medical examiners assumed that a long, sharp dissecting knife had been used. He attacked in the early hours of the morning and targeted prostitutes who were well past their prime with the exception of Kelly , presumably because they were the only ones still seeking clients so late at night. As the murders continued despite greatly increased police patrols in the East End, criticism of Scotland Yard reached alarming levels.
Some Londoners expressed deep concern about their own safety in letters to the editor. Besides widening the cultural gap between the West and East Ends of London, the Ripper reportage also made women far more ap- prehensive about any strange man in their neighborhood and about ventur- ing outside alone. After a brief summary of the thirty-nine stab wounds, he attributed death to one deep thrust into the heart.
Why the reporter failed to mention the others stirs some curiosity. However, at least one newspaper dared to mention the unmentionable on this occasion. From appearances, there was no reason to suppose that recent intimacy had taken place. In a rambling account given shortly before her demise, Smith ac- cused four drunken men of having stolen her few coins before raping her with a stick or cane.
Despite severe hemorrhaging she managed to reach her lodging house, where she collapsed and was taken to London Hospital. But the doctors could not stop the bleeding and she died three days later. Furthermore, this brazen culprit seemed to be taunting them. Once one has found a suitably demented young male— whether plebeian or patrician—who was familiar with Whitechapel, then one can build a case based in large part on coincidence and circumstantial evidence.
Add a vivid imagination and the result is a foregone conclusion. Not to be denied their sport, however, some Ripperologists continue to operate like true believers. We had already arrived at our destination— for now, at least—and our journey would soon be over. Suspects Most modern studies of the Whitechapel murders take their readers through the long list of famous and obscure candidates for the role of the Ripper whom amateur and professional sleuths have fancied over the years. Among the most persistent and ludicrous of myths is the one linking the murders to royalty—namely, H.
Clarence led an active homosexual life and frequented the notorious male brothel on Cleveland Street, where he was once arrested during a police raid. Pro- longed self-indulgence led to an early death, apparently from the effects of venereal disease acquired in the West Indies. According to this myth she had given birth to a daughter, which raised the specter of a Roman Catholic heir to the throne.
An ardent advocate of this theory, Dr. Thus there has been speculation that Druitt had drowned himself not just because of his dismissal from his teaching job but out of remorse for his terrible deeds in Whitechapel. Obscure or plebeian suspects include Joseph Barnett, the ex-lover of Mary Kelly; a vengeful doctor named Stanley, whose beloved son had sup- posedly caught venereal disease from Kelly; the mad Polish hairdresser Aaron Kosminski; and the mad Russian doctor Michael Ostrog.
Tumblety, a Canadian-born con man of Irish origins who made a small fortune by peddling a fake cure for pimples. For the remainder of his life he died in he tried to dodge detectives and reporters looking for a good story. With all the zeal of a bloodhound but without providing any footnotes, Harris followed the tortuous and shadowy path of Stephenson, to whom he assigned the au- thorship of a bizarre article in the Pall Mall Gazette Dec.
Besides the early prime suspect, John Pizer, a Jewish bootmaker who made some money by threatening to sue several newspapers for defamation of character, the pool of suspects included a nameless Jewish butcher or Kosher slaughterman known as a shochim or shochet ; a lunatic barber-surgeon Severin Klosow- ski, alias George Chapman ; a mad Russian secret agent Dr. Alexander Pedachenko, alias Vassily Konovalov , who had supposedly been sent to London by the Ochrana in order to discredit Scotland Yard for failing to punish Russian anarchists severely; Dr.
No doubt the Liverpudlian producers of this bizarre text— written in a uniform twentieth-century hand in an old scrapbook with many pages torn out—hoped to make millions by assigning the authorship to James Maybrick, a well-to-do and middle-aged cotton merchant who died in from an overdose of arsenic. Her trial in made headline news around the country and attracted hordes of spectators.
Nev- ertheless, Paul Feldman, a British video maker, embarked on a prodigious quest to prove the diary authentic. Running parallel to these masculine productions and rarely touching them at any point are a few important studies by British and American feminists who have their own distinct ideas about the murders as the epit- ome of male misogyny since time immemorial. Men, Women and Rape Twelve years later, Jane Caputi launched her polemic against the lethal nature of male heterosexual desire and the vital role played by serial killers in not only the lives of women but also the mass media ever since In other words, there is no clear boundary between the lived realities of East Enders and our historical reconstruction more than a century later of Whitechapel during the year of the Ripper, just as the boundaries of the East End itself remain ambiguous.
At times it seemed like a remote colony of the impe- rial city, if not a foreign country. Filled with pride over the quality of English civilization, most West Enders regarded Tower Hamlets the core of the East End as an embarrassment—a vast Cimmerian den populated in the main by degenerates and troglodytes. In short, the edu- cated elite of Mayfair, Knightsbridge, and Kensington were not at all sur- prised that these homicidal horrors were taking place in Whitechapel.
Condemned to sharing single rooms, these families were forced to scrounge for menial work when the Huguenot-dominated silk-weaving industry around Fournier Street started to decline. At the same time, the gulf between rich and poor steadily widened. So too did the sense of contrast between the two Ends of London, which had the effect of eliding central London in the collective imagination. To begin, its population is a strange amalgamation of Jews, English, French, Germans, and other antagonistic elements that must clash and jar, but not to such an extent as has been surmised and reported.
By the number of Jews living in Tower Ham- lets had climbed to 45, out of a total population of some ,, and many more were on their way. If most Londoners took inordinate pride in their modern Rome and hailed it as the epicenter of the greatest and richest empire the world had ever known, some pessimists saw the metropolis as overcrowded, unhealthy, and oppressive.
Moreover, darkness also connoted chronic dirt, disease, drunkenness, crime, violence, pollution, pauperism, and overcrowding, all of which contributed to high infant mortality rates and physical and sexual abuse. Clearly London was far too big and complex a social organization to be contained by a single trope. London offered spectators a bewildering variety of people, activities, goods, moods, and cityscapes. Hyde can be read as an extended metaphor for a deeply divided city, wherein the forces of reason, civility, and learning are pitted against those of animal passion and violence.
Along with good intentions they carried a fair share of class and racial prejudice. These prejudices owed much to sheer ignorance of conditions in the rookeries and back alleys or wynds of Tower Hamlets. As the Daily Telegraph declared Oct. With much help from the crusading journalist W. As there is a darkest Africa is there not also a darkest England? Civilisation, which can breed its own barbarians, does it not also breed its own pygmies?
And he appealed to readers to give generously toward these goals. Besides indulging in the jungle trope, some late-Victorian reformers cherished sewer or midden metaphors when seeking to epitomize White- chapel and environs. At the same time, moral- istic reformers like the Rev. Sidney Godolphin Osborne, and General Booth binarized their urban world into zones of light and darkness, cleanliness and dirt, safety and danger, virtue and vice. In their febrile imaginations all the drainpipes and sewers of the metropolis seemed to empty into the East End.
The tendency of respectable Victorians to compare the dregs of the East End—or what they called with heavy irony and euphemism the residuum—to apes, pigs, rats, and dogs deepened the already profound gulf between the classes and the two Ends of London. By gathering reams of data about the earn- ings, expenses, and hardships of the inhabitants of every street and square, he sought to raise that curtain and reveal how people actually managed to survive.
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Even so, Whitechapel had the largest number of paupers, casual workers, and semi-criminals in all of Tower Hamlets, at 3. He wanted to see the poorest families resettled in industrial communities outside the slums; and if this did not appeal, then there was always the route of assisted emigration. Even the cats were starving. In sum, dark blue, pink, and purple predominated behind the main ave- nues, with only the occasional blotch of black signifying the worst slum areas. This deep spatial and cultural division was reinforced in by the publication of the Rev.
Most of the early suspects in the Ripper slayings fell into this category. Although most of the refugees from persecution in Eastern Eu- rope spoke little or no English upon arrival, many managed to climb up and out of poverty through shrewd selling of goods and services. The palpable success of Jewish tradesmen, sweatshop owners, moneylenders, and pawn- brokers stirred the envy of many gentiles, especially those who had to borrow money at high interest rates. Struggling with a new language and an alien culture, these foreigners often had to contend with cruel ethnic or racial gibes.
Only a few of the long-term under- employed and unemployed in the East End ever succeeded in climbing out of the deep trough of debt, despair, and alcoholism into which they had fallen. The chronic poverty of such workers moved some social reformers to promote assisted emigration as the only way to alleviate their misery. While the population of central London slowly declined in the s, the periph- ery grew steadily.
Between and , the number of residents of central London fell by In his panoramic survey of Tower Hamlets in , Fishman deliberately blurs the distinction between image and reality. In one of her best-known novels, In Darkest London: A grinning Hottentot elbows his way through a crowd of long-eyed Jew- esses. An Algerian merchant walks arm-in-arm with a native of Calcutta. A little Italian plays pitch-and-toss with a small Russian. A Polish Jew enjoys sauer-kraut with a German Gentile. And among the foreigners lounges the East End loafer, monarch of all he surveys, lord of the premises.
Even more colorful were the street actors, buskers, and puppeteers. As Stedman Jones has observed, the domestic comedy of the plebeian music hall contributed much to working-class consciousness in late Vic- torian London. The founding of Toynbee Hall in gave Whitechapel a vital center for the evangelical impulses that had driven missionaries into the East End seeking to rescue lost souls from the demons of drink, prostitution, and violence. Samuel Barnett, rector of St. This book described a close-knit plebeian community where people knew each other only too well and where family feuding turned into tribal wars involving women and children as well as men.
One byproduct of the Whitechapel murders was a renewed demand by the social-purity lobby to stamp out prostitution. Since prostitution in itself was not a crime, a policeman could arrest a woman only for soliciting or be- ing disorderly—charges not so easily proven in a court of law. In addition, some prostitutes enjoyed a cozy relationship with the local constabulary, to whom they handed out sexual favors or bribes. They found it far harder to avoid alcoholism and venereal disease. Moreover, the police rarely hassled the pimps or ponces who lived off the earnings of the women under their control.
Most owners and operators of the lodging houses serving as brothels withstood the forces of the social-purity lobby until the arrival of Frederick Charrington. This courageous crusader, a scion of a rich brewing family, launched a one-man campaign against brothel keepers at some risk to his own safety. Another extended troping of the East End occurred in , when the American writer Jack London, a man of working-class origins and socialist sympathies, set forth on an expedition into a region that his friends re- garded as wholly foreign and dangerous.
Shifting from the lupine to the simian trope, he likened some of the de- praved street people to stunted gorillas: There were no swelling muscles, no abundant thews and wide-spreading shoulders. They exhibited, rather, an elemental economy of nature, such as the cave-men must have exhibited. But there was strength in those meagre bodies, the ferocious primordial strength to clutch and gripe [sic] and tear and rend.
When they spring upon their human prey they are known even to bend the victim backward and double its body till the back is broken. The streets and houses, alleys and courts, are their hunting grounds. The slum is their jungle, and they live and prey in the jungle. Imbued with skepticism, we focus on the special interests and ideological leanings of the press corps and the moguls who dominate the mass media.
Moreover, the prominent news stories or feature articles in newspapers constantly reinscribe the dominant values governing normative behavior. Our contextualization of Ripper news begins with some general obser- vations about the nature of news reporting and its relation to the dominant values of society. Thus journalists do not simply entertain readers with tales of crime, scandal, or sports, but wield real power. Their landmark work Policing the Crisis examined in detail the responses of the British public, press, and judiciary to some vicious muggings a term imported from America that had occurred in Birmingham, London, and other cities in — Aware that they had no easy answers to the inequities that had produced such crimes, they laid out in great detail how repressive forces within society and the state were mobilized so as to ensure the triumph of law and order over what was construed as anarchy or thuggery.
As soon as the media feature stories of ran- dom violence or street crime, the public starts to worry about the risk to their own lives and valuables. In this way law-and-order news plays into the hands of reactionary politicians in need of votes who condemn lax moral standards and lobby for more police repression. Crime waves are thus constructed by people who fear the erosion of traditional values and see gratuitous violence at every turn. No mat- ter how hard reporters may work to capture what they consider the reality of any given event, what actually appears in print is the result of much selecting and editing.
Therefore they must practice a form of triage, choosing the stories deemed worthy of notice and deciding on the appropriate number of column inches and the placement of the article on a given page. Although these radical critics were writing at a time of profound aliena- tion from the capitalist state as well as anger at the so-called Establishment, their strictures about the nature of crime news cannot simply be dismissed as the product of an outmoded or naive political protest. Much of what Chibnall, Hall and his colleagues, and Box had to say about the con- struction of crime news in the s applies to both today and yesterday— notably, to late Victorian journalism.
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The Ripper murders prompted some papers to promote a moral and social panic far greater than the alarm raised over the garroting or mugging of a few gentlemen in the West End in , when the right-wing press and several Tory members of Parliament orchestrated a crime wave by turning several minor assaults into a threat to life and limb all over the metropolis. The alarm over garroting resulted in a severe crackdown by the police, who arrested more suspects between July and December of than they had in the whole previous year. During November, twenty-three men charged with garroting were tried and convicted at the Old Bailey.
In February , small bands of roving rioters looted shops in St. More than a year later, on Sunday, November 13, , thousands of un- employed and casual workers marched from Tower Hamlets to Trafalgar Square, resolved to hold another mass rally. In a bullish mood, the Times Nov. On the other hand, the Liberal and Radical press, still angry over Bloody Sunday, accused Scotland Yard of utter in- competence because the killer had not been caught, and predicted that habitual criminals all over town would step up their activities now that they felt safe from the inept police.
Beyond the arena of poli- tics, the old and new men of business and the professions were keen to achieve recognition as gentlemen of good taste, and for this reason they bought paintings and patronized painters who celebrated English civiliza- tion and the beauty of the countryside.
Artisans and factory workers with a penny or two to spare were entering the newspaper culture in droves, having improved their reading and writing ability in both Sunday schools and state-supported elementary schools. Editors and journalists working for the penny press knew how to satisfy the tastes of an increasingly plebeian readership without neglecting the needs of their middle-class readers. Mid-Victorian prosperity went far to lessen class antagonisms despite the disparities of wealth, economic interest, education, and political alle- giance.
So too did the mass circulation press, which proved an effective cultural bridge over the great social divide. Regardless of their class, status, or occupation, more and more readers relished the sheer entertainment value of the news, particularly when it came to disasters and crime, espe- cially murder.
Then came the abo- lition of the duty on paper in As prices plunged, the number of newspapers in Britain rose steadily—from in to well over 2, by By the s, many skilled workers and artisans were buying an evening daily in addition to the cherished Sunday weekly. The rapid growth in the number and readership of cheap papers meant that the fourth estate came to occupy a central position in Brit- ish culture and society, feeding the growing demand for not only knowl- edge but also entertainment.
Early Victorian newspapers differed markedly from the small-circulation and gossipy journals of the mid-eighteenth century, but the changes in format, content, and circulation that took place between the s and s were almost as pronounced. In addition to such technological ad- vances as the telegraph and the web rotary printing machine, the emergence of some remarkably able proprietors and editors, along with the surge in consumerism, advertising, and working-class literacy, left lasting marks on both the national and the provincial press.
Technological progress did not stop with the adoption of the rotary-action press in the late s. It had also been securely implanted into the cultural landscape as an essential reference point in the daily lives of millions of people. By the number of news- papers had at least doubled, the readership had quadrupled, and the size of the press corps had grown by leaps and bounds. By combining lurid stories of death and di- saster with summaries of political and economic events in a reader-friendly format, and by lowering prices to a penny, the Sunday press proved a roaring commercial success.
This quintessential expression of the new mass consumer society enabled newspaper owners and directors to charge less for their product while aiding and abetting the growing passion—especially among women—for shopping. The only English daily to surpass the 50, mark before was the Times, which peaked at close to 70, in the early s, slumped to 61, in , and then fell to 40, by , while the price stayed at threepence.
During the s several metropolitan and international news agencies made their debut on the strength of the telegraph and the growing demand for syndicated news. Whether pub- lished in its original form or reworked by editors, this material enabled provincial newspapers to expand their coverage of events, by carrying na- tional news that otherwise would have exceeded their resources. In this new climate, few newspapers could afford to operate like the small family enterprises they had once been.
Apart from lower prices, a more inviting format, and advances in print- ing technology, another factor in this long revolution in the newspaper industry was the sheer talent of such journalistic giants as George Reynolds, Edward Lloyd, Henry W. Russell of the Times. But if we extend the term to include a heavier emphasis on crime, scandal, disaster, and sports along with bolder and more lurid headlines and subheads, then the Sunday and evening press of the s and s deserves most of the credit for this de- velopment.
Clearly, it took more than the adoption of subheads or cross- heads to create a racier and more tabloidlike journalism.
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What was new about it was the extent to which it evoked comment, invited speculation, and engendered passions. But he should have acknowledged the role of the Sunday press and the illustrated weeklies in fostering the racier journalism of the s. The shrewd Irish nationalist politician and editor T.
Instead of printing long transcripts from a trial in the manner of the Times, the New Journalists preferred to summarize the proceedings and then describe the leading actors in the courtroom. They prefer smart headed paragraphs to able leading articles. The traditional emphasis on royal ceremonies, elite scandals, accidents, natural disasters, battles, domestic murders, and sports continued unabated, and the steady increase in sales convinced most editors that they were serving up the right mix of news to their readers.
Granted, the penny papers had bigger headlines on their front pages; nevertheless, both types of newspaper used much the same vocabulary and sensationalist style. Although the Times remained the paper of choice for the governing class, and retained the respect of most rival editors, it too delivered morsels of horror in stories about violent crimes and disasters. Moreover, most papers bought copy from one of the news agencies. Journalists were fully aware of what their competitors were producing, and any differences in sensationalism tended to be of degree rather than kind.
In addition, editors and reporters often moved from one paper to another during their careers. Few Victorian readers questioned the truth of the articles they read. And there were no other news media such as radio and television to provide an alternative version. In other words, there is more to murder news than descriptions of a dead body, suspects, motives, modes of detection, and the legal procedures attendant upon conviction or acquittal. In this respect, the sensational aspects of crime news functioned for the prurient reader as so much chocolate coating over the pill of old morality, and editors hoped that readers would prefer their version to that of the competition.
Not surprisingly, some late-Victorian men of letters saw little differ- ence between sensationalism and vulgarity. Vulgar or not, news of crime and scandal appealed to the classes as well as the masses, judging from the steady rise in readership after the s and the purchase of several different papers each day or week by those who could afford the price. In the words of one Daily Telegraph editor, readers who complained loudest about a lurid report of murder often could not wait for the next installment of the story.
But what did the latter word mean? As early as the s, the Perfect Diurnall was publishing short but dramatic accounts of murder and mayhem that boosted sales, and after the Restoration, broad- sides and pamphlets often celebrated the lives and deaths of highwaymen, thieves, and other criminals. In the early s the talk of London was the exploits of Jonathan Wild, the master thief, crime boss, and receiver of stolen goods who in- formed on some of his accomplices and was eventually hanged at Tyburn in A legend in his own time, he too ended up swinging on the gallows, one year before Wild.
Crammed with case histories of thieves, swindlers, mur- derers, and outlaws, this dictionary of roguish biography ranged from ob- scure men like William Hitchin, who stole an exchequer bill, and Joseph Moses, who received the skins of six purloined swans, to John Williams, the notorious Ratcliffe Highway murderer, who executed two families in December , and John Bellingham, who assassinated Prime Minister Spencer Perceval. So popular was this work that many Grub Street writers and printers emulated its style and content—most notably James Catnach, the Rupert Murdoch of Seven Dials, who thrived on stories about ruthless killers.
A small, crude sketch on the cover depicted her frail body suspended by a rope tied to a rafter, while the wicked stepmother beat her with a whip. When her trunk, legs, and head were discovered in different parts of the metropolis, suspicion focused on her lover, and after a two-day trial in May he was sentenced to death, while his paramour-accomplice, Sarah Gale, was transported for life.
The prime cul- prit in this much-publicized case, John Thurtell, was the wayward son of a Norwich merchant. Running with an unsavory crowd of gamblers, boxers, hustlers, and ex-convicts, Thurtell had fallen off the plateau of respectabil- ity, and this gave the press a chance to sing the familiar refrain about the wages of sin.
The absence of photographs meant that words alone had to convey the horror of violent death. After the s, of course, weekly magazines like the Illustrated London News, the Graphic launched in at six- pence a copy , and the Penny Illustrated Paper carried images of murderers and their victims without any close-ups of the actual injuries.
While editors of the elite papers kept their eyes peeled for unusual crimes or major disasters, they tried to spare their more sensitive readers the grimmest details of violent death. Never were men and women more irretrievably aban- doned to their doom. Here an eye- catching or tantalizing headline could make all the difference. Thus the Pall Mall Gazette tried to entice readers to devour a story about an En- glish expedition up the Congo River by means of the following three-tiered headline: Not long after this the authori- ties closed down such freak shows in the East End.
Then as now, the press indulged in feeding frenzies whenever some lady or gentleman broke the codes of acceptable behavior and ended up in the arms of a policeman, or—worse—in court. The exposure of the sexual transgressions of Sir Charles Dilke and Charles Stewart Parnell in the divorce courts during —86 and —90, re- spectively, showed how heavy a toll such charges could exact.
Breach-of- promise cases, moreover, left an indelible stain on any woman who admitted to having been seduced. During the early s Fleet Street played up these two grands scandales for months on end. Fleet Street assigned scores of reporters to cover the civil trial of the Claimant from May to March and the crimi- nal trial from April through February For some six years, the national press faithfully recorded the Tich- borne trials and editorialized about the moral implications of the case. But whenever an aggrieved party took an aristocrat to court for some transgression, then this section of the paper carried its own form of sensationalism.
Transcend- ing both class and gender, reader prurience created a strong demand for the details of illicit trysts, love letters, illegitimate babies, broken vows, and fraud. Thus the steamy case of Thelwall v. During the spring of , W. While Stead rejoiced over this proof of his editorial clout, such sordid scandals prompted one erudite critic to deplore this pandering to the most vulgar tastes. Two Victorian Sensations, Richard Altick reconstructed two cases of gentlemanly violence in the sum- mer of Murray survived a gunshot wound, but Roberts died of head injuries several days later.
Even so, the Crown refused to indict Murray for either manslaughter or murder, and the public was denied the juicy details that would have poured forth from a trial. Surely nothing more barbarous ever occurred in the blackest epochs of our social history. Reynolds, author of the best-selling The Mysteries of London. Through these shilling shockers ran the crimson threads of sexually aggressive and mercenary rogues who slew rivals and seduced vulnerable women, in a heady mixture of soft-core pornography and hard- core violence that captivated thousands of readers.
His elaborate plots kept readers on edge until the last page and made them long for the next installment. These popular novels featured ladies and gentlemen caught up in all kinds of intrigues or deceptions by wicked friends or kin. With an unerring eye for distinctions of class and status, writers like Mary Braddon and Wilkie Collins wove elaborate plots based on disloyalty and desire masked by polite manners and apparent virtue. Sensation novel- ists like Collins often culled fragments of their plots from newspapers as in the case of the Road murder.
Anticipating the classic detective story, the plots of sensation novels often revolved around innocent young women menaced by sinister schem- ers, whose evil designs supplied the necessary spine-tingling effects. Unlike most real crime scenarios, however, these romances often contained an intelligent policeman or amateur detec- tive capable of cracking the case, whereas the constables and inspectors in murder news remained largely faceless and colorless, not to say dull-witted.
Un- like the lower-middle-class police detectives of Scotland Yard, these elite amateurs could use their analytical powers to see through the dark glass of mystery and hypocrisy to the evil that lay behind. The addiction of early Victorians to sheer horror found fullest expres- sion during the state-orchestrated ritual of execution outside prison walls. Public executions also brought out subversive impulses, as people applauded any sign of bravery by the prisoner. But if he struggled to delay the proceedings, then the crowd might utter cries of disgust.
But not even the fullest stretch of their imaginations could yield a small fraction of the thrills once derived from public hangings. It was found in the spleen, in the kidney, in the stomach, in the liver, in the heart, in the brain, in the blood, and in the rectum. The body was impregnated with it. Subsequently the leaden lid was removed, and the spectacle presented by the body was absolutely frightful.
Each limb was also swollen to prodigious proportions, and the sight was revolting in the extreme. At the heart of sensation-horror lie descriptions of battered, stabbed, strangled, burned, poisoned, and bullet-ridden bodies. We spectators remain safely ensconced in our seats—somewhat agitated by the scary sce- nario, but fully aware of who and where we are and why this predator does not constitute a real threat. After dipping his pen in purple ink, one journalist wrote: Men spoke of it with bated breath, and pale-lipped women shuddered as they read the dreadful details.
People afar off smelled blood, and the superstitious said that the skies were of a deeper red that autumn. But when combined with the clinical details revealed by the police surgeons at each inquest, the resulting catalyst enabled most Fleet Street papers to attain new peaks in circulation. In what must be deemed a remarkable coincidence, several fringe productions of this com- pelling story opened on the London stage on the eve of the Whitechapel murders.
She paid good money to acquire the clothes in which the killers had died on the gallows. Some morbid entrepreneurs carried on the eighteenth-century tradition of anatomical display by assembling wax models of male and female bodies containing both healthy and dis- eased organs. Stead and Shock Journalism Arguably the most astute practitioner of journalistic sensationalism in the late Victorian era was the crusading editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, William Thomas Stead. The lurid details of child prostitution revealed in these articles made the paper and its editor the talk of the town.
He had bought the child from her willing mother. In other words, the attractions of such topics may have had much less to do with middle-class angst over poverty or fear of class war than with such pleasurable sensations as hair-raising thrills and schadenfreude. Even more than sensation novels, murder news often in- duced what D. Sensationalism was thus associated with distinctly physical and emotional responses, and if readers did not feel any of these sensations, then the writer had clearly failed in his mission to provoke or excite.
Once in a while a newspaper might omit a criminal case on the grounds of indecency or impropriety. And if no terrible tragedies had occurred, they could always fall back on royal weddings or funerals, an eclipse, a comet, or an expedition down the Nile, if not into the always dangerous African jungle. On one or two occasions the voyeuristic Stead actually admitted at least for public consumption to having some qualms about featuring stories of sexual misconduct and homicide.
And after all there is nothing so sensational as death, which is the climax and end of all sensation. Literature, painting, the theatre, our exhibitions, journalism, all bear witness to the fact that murder, suicide, or sudden death—that is to say, bloodshed in some form or another —is the master spell for enchaining human attention. A few months later, at the height of the Ripper mur- ders, he wrote an editorial Oct.
The paying thing to do is clear enough. As Judith Knelman contends, women who committed homicide had a much greater appeal to the predominately male reading public, who regarded murderesses as far more subversive of the social order than homicidal men. Robbery came next on the list of motives, followed at a long distance by political protest, which played a negligible role in murder in Great Britain, as distinct from Ireland.
Certainly, the attrac- tions and repulsions of murder news should not be forced into the simplis- tic category of peacetime boredom—least of all when we know so little about the fantasy lives of respectable readers, and how they were affected by their daily or weekly dose of news. We do know, however, that in the s most London papers were publishing many more clinical details of violent death than they had in the s, and that by the time of the Ripper murders, the penny press had won a huge readership owing to a combina- tion of low prices and bolder and bigger headlines for disasters, upper-class scandals, and domestic murders.
Before the Ripper episode, Victorians were accustomed to feature stories about lethal love triangles and murder arising from such motives as greed, anger, and jealousy. Because the strict codes of sexual propriety and re- spectability left so little room for deviance from the straight and narrow path of monogamy, the press leapt at the chance to publicize the murder of a mistress or wife by a respectable man desperate to keep up appearances.
Stevenson agreed that criminals acted not out of deliberate depravity but in response to environmental or hereditary forces over which they had no control. The new schools of psychology and criminology, led by such notables as Henry Maudsley and Havelock Ellis, attributed criminal or lunatic behavior to such social factors as poverty, alcoholism, and parental neglect or abuse. Judges who had to punish these offenders should therefore take these mitigating factors into account. Fleet Street, in short, used murder news to remind readers once again about the wages of sin. No other religion but Christianity meets the sense of sin, and sin is the great fact in the world to me.