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126th out of 212 books
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The Murder of Helen Jewett
In 1836, the murder of a young prostitute made headlines in New York City and around the country, inaugurating a sex-and-death sensationalism in news reporting that haunts us today. Patricia Cline Cohen goes behind these first lurid accounts to reconstruct the story of the mysterious victim, Helen Jewett.
From her beginnings as a servant girl in Maine, Helen Jewett refashi...more
From her beginnings as a servant girl in Maine, Helen Jewett refashi...more
Paperback, 512 pages
Published
November 17th 2010
by Vintage
(first published 1998)
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A wonderful book, not always easy to bear but always captivating. Patricia Cline Cohen tells the story of a notorious 1836 New York murder trial, using it to immerse us in Jacksonian urban society and reveal some of the anxieties the case brought to the surface of public discussion. She relates the life stories of two mysterious city dwellers, first the charismatic 22-year-old prostitute calling herself Helen Jewett and then the 19-year-old clerk accused of her murder, the well-spoken but mood...more
I think I have never before read a book and thought "whoooooooeee, this could use some serious editing." The story of Helen Jewett's actual murder is fascinating and bizarre, no doubt. There's all sorts of stuff going on here that is all sorts of fascinating. We've got prostitution, cover-ups (maybe), small-town girls going off to the big city, all that.
And it's really, really meticulously researched -- heavily footnoted, tons of minor stuff sourced back to letters, you ...more
And it's really, really meticulously researched -- heavily footnoted, tons of minor stuff sourced back to letters, you ...more
History, not mystery. Historical and sociological research of 1830’s New York; it’s brothels, boarding houses, business practices, justice system, newspaper coverage and the prominent families of the times, particularly those involved with or related to Helen Jewett and Richard Robinson. The book is written around the murder of a prostitute called Helen Jewett in a NY city brothel on April 9, 1836.
The murderer most likely is a young man from a prominent family in Connecticut who is work...more
The murderer most likely is a young man from a prominent family in Connecticut who is work...more
When I first started this book I couldn't put it down. It opened up with Helen's murder and then started opening up 19th century New York and Helen (born Dorcas Doyen)'s life. I could just feel the author digging around in archives to get to understand Helen (and her murderer's life).
I wanted to give this book four stars. I really did. But about 2/3 of the way in it was starting to repeat itself too much and its tangents were no longer relevant. I think I started losing my enthu...more
I wanted to give this book four stars. I really did. But about 2/3 of the way in it was starting to repeat itself too much and its tangents were no longer relevant. I think I started losing my enthu...more
If you love history and mysteries, you will LOVE this book. Not only do you learn a myriad of information about the 19th century, but you also get a great mystery novel about a historic murder in New York City. Cohen takes non-fiction and makes you think you are reading fiction because of how well she portrays her information. Though Jewett was a prostitute, I actually took a liking to her halfway through the book and I still feel that way now. After reading this book, I've learned more than...more
Patricia Cline Cohen is a good writer, in the sense that she displays mastery of the language (a rich vocabulary and the like). But she's not a good editor. The subject matter here is terribly interesting - from the story of the murder itself to the time in which it took place. Cohen delves into the cultural elements of 1830s New York and the back stories of the main characters. Of course it's a good instinct to provide context to a murder trial, especially one that took place so long ago. ...more
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The Murder of Helen Jewett is a misleading title, in a way. The murder takes place in the first few pages; then, this central event is set aside in favor of an exploration of Helen's life and times.
This involves a bit of historical detective work, and I will say that I am impressed with the author's scholarship and writing ability. She does an admirable job of digging into the past and shedding light on mysteries I didn't know existed.
The book follows Dorcas Doyen, aka ...more
This involves a bit of historical detective work, and I will say that I am impressed with the author's scholarship and writing ability. She does an admirable job of digging into the past and shedding light on mysteries I didn't know existed.
The book follows Dorcas Doyen, aka ...more
This is exactly what narrative historical nonfiction should be, in my opinion. The story of the murder of prostitute Helen Jewett in 1830s New York City is a fascinating panorama of a time & place that is so engrossing, the reader finds it almost more real than the world currently around them. Plus, it's so much more than just a book about a sensational murder & trial of days past: the birth of modern journalism, particularly of the investigative stripe, is here, as well as a look at the general...more
This is a non-fiction novel about a prostitute's murder in New York City in the 1830s and the subsequent trial that followed.
The story was sort of interesting but it felt more like I was reading a historian's college thesis rather than a novel about murder and prostitution. The author obviously did a lot of research on this subject so I'll give her kudos for that, but there were parts of the book where I wondered why she was including certain details because they seemed to have no relat...more
The story was sort of interesting but it felt more like I was reading a historian's college thesis rather than a novel about murder and prostitution. The author obviously did a lot of research on this subject so I'll give her kudos for that, but there were parts of the book where I wondered why she was including certain details because they seemed to have no relat...more
I found this book absolutely fascinating. I agree with reviewers who have stated that this book reads more as a history book vs. a true crime story, but I think that is why I have enjoyed it so much. The author went much deeper in her writing and research of this "story" versus your "average" true crime book. If you are looking for a book written in the style of such authors as Gregg Olsen's nonfiction work, Phelps, M. William or Ann Rule, you are going to be really disappoin...more
A notorious murder in 1830s New York City, Cohen uses this as a jumping off point to vividly describe the roiling culture of urbanizing America and how people adjusted (or not) to a profoundly different society in comparison to the farms they left.
This book was great. It took one event from 19th century New York and expanded upon it and all the relevant characters to provide a wealth of information about 19th century America and Americans. Really, really interesting.
Good but not absolutely great nonfiction about the murder of a prostitute in the 1830s. Interesting cultural info about the era.
Laura
rated it
Recommends it for:
academic types
Recommended to Laura by:
required reading for my Hist. of NYC class
this book was required reading for my History of NYC class...its subject matter I thought was interesting but I did not enjoy reading this book at all. It felt like I was reading an academic research paper rather than a book on prostitution in 19th century NY (which could have been a pretty juicy subject)The book just dragged for me, there was tons of information which I thought was useless (there's a chapter in the book about the great-great-grandfather of the killer...WHY?! ) and I gave up rea...more
History of New York City and women's social role in 1836. Indeed I savored this book.
So far it's this weird murder mystery (that I don't typically enjoy reading) but it's all about a real crime that happened in history...so it's slightly more interesting. It's basically how the media twisted up this murder (the first widely publicized murder) and no one seems to know the truth about the victim or her killer. So far...very good...and historian friends of mine highly recommended this read. If looking for something non-fiction and entertaining let me know. Hopefully I'll finish it ...more
I thought this was fascinating and I was astonished at how much primary material--letters, contemporary accounts--was available for Ms. Cohen's research, so long after the fact. However, it's probably not for the casual reader: It's exhaustive, rather long, and you have to be interested not only in Jewett and the murder but the process of the research or you might find it tedious.
Personally, I am a detail fiend and thought that material that some reviewers feel is "tangential...more
Personally, I am a detail fiend and thought that material that some reviewers feel is "tangential...more
Joellenparker
added it
Prostitute in NY-1830s
i skipped a couple chapters that did not really deal with Helen... and i still know i enjoyed the book. minus 50 pages or so!
Cohen knows EVERYTHING about this case. It's an in-depth study of so many facets of early 19th century history: gender roles, prostitution, the justice system, the caste system, and Manhattan itself. It's exactly the kind of history book I love - when the author introduces a peripheral character, she starts with his grandfather. If you're not into that kind of storytelling and are looking for a juicier read, I recommend "Sin in the Second City" - it's a little fluffier, and reads more ...more
Helen Jewett was a prostitute in 19th Century New York. One day, a man a step or two above her on the class ladder, murdered her. Then he was tried for the crime. And he got off. The Murder of Helen Jewett recounts this otherwise unsurprising case with suspense and a rare talent for social commentary. As well, the case's presence in the new tabloid industry caused it to reach from coast to coast. The temporary effect it had on the country as a whole is ably covered in this fun true crime read.
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I'm not sure if this lower rating is because it took me two months to read, and I lost the momentum, but I thought it was good - not great. It was really interesting to see the way she delved into so many aspects of early nineteenth-century urban life and the world of prostitution. It could have been way shorter though, and it didn't move nearly as quickly as "A Murder in Virginia" - the equivalent historical murder mystery.
The author has clearly done her research well into this historical crime. Unfortunately, there were far too many tangential derailings that killed my interest completely. It was somewhere about the 5th tape in, when she's going on about how the deed-holder of the building where Helen was murdered made his fortune that I gave up on it. Life's too short. There are better told historical crime stories out there.
I found about 1/2 of this book really interesting, and the other 1/2 tedious. The parts about the trial and the actual crime were fascinating, but there was just too much background information.
This is one of the only books I had to read for a history class that I actually read the whole book AND really liked it. It's about a prostitute living in New York in the mid-1800's that gets murdered. The case was never solved, but this historian puts up a good argument for who may have killed Helen Jewett.
One of the best studies of 19th Century New York that I've read in ages: part investigative journalism, part true crime thriller, part history gem. Left me salivating for Cohen's new book, to be published in early '08, about the "sporting male press" of mid-19th Century NYC.
Intriguing exploration of the murder of a high-class 19th century New York City prostitute. Cohen vividly re-creates the seedy underworld of Victorian New York, represented by the mysteriously shady Helen Jewett. It reads like a novel, which I love in a popular history.
This might be one of my favorite books. It puts together the story of the murder of Helen Jewett, a prositute living in New York City in the early 1900's by piecing together the newspaper articles, print media, letters and journals surrounding her story.
Interesting - I picked it up at a library book sale, thinking it was fiction. However, it was quite a look at life in NY in the 1830's - and what was apparently quite a sensational murder trial at the time.
Not my usual thing, but I liked it.
Not my usual thing, but I liked it.
This is pretty much a straight up history book, very cut and dry, which is okay, I guess. The social implications of this case are enormous, and Cohen pays zero attention to them, to the detriment of her book.
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Patricia Cline Cohen is Professor of History and Acting Dean of the Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1991 to 1996 she chaired the Women's Studies Program there. She is the author of A Calculating People: The Spread of Numeracy in Early America (1985) and of numerous articles and reviews, and a coauthor of The American Promise (1997).
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