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56th out of 212 books
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Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest
by
Gregg Olsen (Goodreads Author)
In 1911 two wealthy British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, came to a sanitorium in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to undergo the revolutionary “fasting treatment” of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard. It was supposed to be a holiday for the two sisters. But within a month of arriving at what the locals called Starvation Heights, the women were emaciated shadows of t...more
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
May 3rd 2005
by Three Rivers Press
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Although this is certainly categorized as true crime, it's atypical of the genre in that it's not the usual contemporary "Husband kills his wife to profit from the life insurance policy and run away with the mistress" sort of thing. (This means I can feel less stupid for reading it. Just kidding. Sort of.) Rather, it's set in the early 20th century; two middle-aged, unmarried sisters from England arrive at a sanitorium in the Pacific Northwest to undergo a "starving treatment"...more
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Dr. Linda Hazzard was an osteopath who wrote a small book called “Fasting for the Cure of Disease”. Two British sisters (orphans in charge of a large fortune) came across this book as they visited Victoria, B.C. and convinced themselves that if they took the treatment at Dr. Hazzard’s sanatorium they would be restored to perfect health. Only one of the sisters would survive their encounter with the "fasting specialist". Dr. Hazzard is a fascinating character; it's difficult to know ...more
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This is a true crime story that happened in the early 1900s in Washington state. This woman called herself a doctor of osteopathic medicine, but she actually didn't have any education past high school. She advocated fasting and enemas to get the toxins out of the body. She wrote a book called Fasting For the Cure of Disease. Two wealthy English sisters who were always looking for the latest fad to improve their health. While they were visiting family in the United States, they heard about D...more
GREAT true crime: well-researched, engaging/absorbing, richly detailed. LOVED it partly for the local lore and how deeply rooted it is in King, Kitsap and Pierce counties (WA state) and partly loved it because it's about a woman (killer) who seized/exercised power in a time period when most women didn't (her victims, for example). Timely reading for me picking it up now with the New Age sweat lodge deaths/"murders" in the news recently.
There are many appealing aspects of th...more
There are many appealing aspects of th...more
Based on a true story, it's set in the early 1900's in Washington State. It's the story of a woman who advocated fasting as a cure for disease. Two wealthy young sisters from England fell under her 'spell'. The 'doctor'(she had no degrees whatsoever)exerted great influence over her 'patients' to the extent that the young women signed over power of attorney to the fasting expert which gave her access to all their monies. One of the young women died, the other survived with the help of a famil...more
Claire and Dorothea Williamson were rich British hypochondriacs. When they met charismatic Dr. Linda Hazzard in 1910, they were convinced her fasting cure could help them. They were desperate to go to her "sanitarium", Wilderness Heights, in Olalla, Washington, where patients fasted for days, weeks, or months on a diet of small amounts of tomato and asparagus juice and occasionally a small teaspoon of orange juice. What could possibly go wrong? While some patients survived and publicly...more
This true story of the murder trial of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard is, particularly in the first third of the book, seriously disturbing. Dr. Hazzard founded a sanitarium, in Olalla, Washington (on the Olympic Peninsula) for the treatment of disease by her special fasting cure. What her rich and naive customers didn't realize was that, if you had a wealth of funds, your fasting treatment would likely go well beyond fasting and into starvation and death. While Hazzard would walk away as the execut...more
This is a rather slow and plodding tale about two sisters in the Pacific Northwest around the turn of the century who agree to a radical new therapy to treat their "blues". The fasting treatments of Dr. Linda Hazzard. The doctor moves the sisters to her new sanitarium in Olla, WA, partially paid for by the sisters’ money, so that she can continue to starve them in private. Up to 40 people died under her care.
I was VERY interested in reading this book. I live just outside Olla, W...more
I was VERY interested in reading this book. I live just outside Olla, W...more
Starvation Heights is a true story of two wealthy, unmarried sisters (who are described as spinsters multiple times throughout the book) that had an interest in natural healing rather than traditional medicine. They sought out the care of Dr. Linda Hazzard and her "fasting treatment." I'll be honest, one of the things that drew me to it was that it is set in the Pacific Northwest and I'm kind of on a kick of just wanting to pick up everything and move out to wilderness.
T...more
T...more
This book was creepy. I was glued to it but it's hard to give it a higher rating when I'd have to say "I really liked it" or "loved it." I had a vague remembrance of this title when I saw it on the shelf near the homeschooling books at the library. When I picked it up and saw that it took place in Olalla, just ten minutes away, and it was true, I wanted to read it. Creepy story and now I'm creeped out that something so awful happened here. Just as upsetting as this woman...more
I am half way thru the book-it is an interesting story about a fasting doctor and her patients. What I find most interesting is how the doctor controlled her patients to starve themselves. This was a strange book for me to choose to read during the holiday season-when food is all around. This crime novel details the life of Dr. Hazzard and her warped view that she was the victim of the medical community. The story details the experience of two British sister that chose to follow the doctor's f...more
I really enjoyed this story and even more so because it happened in the area where I live. A self-described "doctor" prescribes a fasting treatment for various and sundry ailments all with the same result; death or something close to it. Curioiusly, the good doctor would often be the beneficiary of wills and properties. I was riveted by the story wondering if and who would survive and would the doctor be brought to justice. Hard to believe that people could let themselves get to th...more
This is a disturbing and fabulous story that only a true Northwestern could write. Starvation Heights takes you into the cold and wet forests of the old pioneer days in Seattle and surrounds you with mystery and a feeling of panic to escape while you turn every page.
In my travels I have noticed that the East of the Rockies is rich with creepy stories of betrayal, deadly ghosts and gruesome acts of human carnage. But this brilliant book brings evil and history together and makes my ...more
In my travels I have noticed that the East of the Rockies is rich with creepy stories of betrayal, deadly ghosts and gruesome acts of human carnage. But this brilliant book brings evil and history together and makes my ...more
I first saw this book in Powell's Bookstore on a table displaying local Northwest authors. Taking place circa 1910 in Olalla, Washington, the story follows two wealthy British heiress sisters who become converted to a faddish "fasting cure" for illness. After entering the famous Dr. Linda Hazzard sanitarium, hoping to be healed of minor health issues, the sisters are subjected to shocking treatments including violent massages, daily enemas, and a diet of mere vegetable broths.
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This was one of the best historical true crime books I have ever read, not to mention well-researched. It was fascinating to follow the crimes of a truly evil woman and the unfortunate victims who believed in her.
Kathy
added it
First, let me say that I didn't finish this book....read about half of it. I've decided that life is too short to spend my time reading stuff that doesn't entertain me. Anyway, this is a book about a "Doctor" Hazzard in Washington State in the early 1900's who claimed she could cure many ills through her fasting treatment. Many patients were treated and most died of starvation. Strange characters and an unusual location were the things that held my attention the most. This is suppo...more
True crime in Olalla Washington circa 1910. Two sisters check into a health resort and only one checks out. The cure at this resort was fasting - for a month or more - and daily enemas. Whoopee! So far the story is getting really good. The evil starvation doctor is shameless and bold. The day after one sister died, she immediately went through her trunks to see which of her clothes she wanted, and then wore them in front of the surviving sister who was too weak to respond. Questioning rela...more
An interesting book for several reasons. First, it is based on a true story of what people in the book have referred to as medical quackery and others as murder. I'm still not sure what I would call it, since I think the convicted "doctor" was not right in the head anyway. Second, the thought that people would submit themselves to "medical" treatments, especially one based on starvation, is something that amazes me. Third, that this fake doctor, even after causing the death o...more
I read this book shortly after moving to the Vancouver/Portland area but have been recommending it to quite a few people lately so decided it was time for a reread...as always very interesting and shocking that someone was able to get by with what Dr. Linda Hazzard did those many years ago!
This is a true story, a tale of medical murder set in the early 1900's in the Seattle area. Dr. Linda Hazzard considered herself a specialist in the field of a "fasting cure" that would ...more
This is a true story, a tale of medical murder set in the early 1900's in the Seattle area. Dr. Linda Hazzard considered herself a specialist in the field of a "fasting cure" that would ...more
I picked this up at the Powells at the airport, because it was sitting on a table of books by "regional authors" and the story sounded interesting enough to hold my attention on a plane. An employee then validated my choice telling me that she couldn't put it down. Well, it really wan't that great, I'm sorry to say. The story, which is true, revolves around a sanitarium in Washington state in which the "doctor" starved patients to death so she could steal their assets. The b...more
This is undoubtedly a fascinating snippet of history, and I found it especially interesting because this evil "doctor" starved her many victims to death just a few miles down the road from where I now live. I could go take a tour of her sanitarium if I wanted, but I don't think I actually want to do that. Reading the book was creepy enough. I was, however, disappointed in the structure and writing in this book. I was expecting something more like "Devil in the White City,"...more
Fascinating story from the early 1900s. A couple of British heiresses learn of a "doctor" that uses fasting to cure disease. Thinking they are going into the countryside to reclaim their health, both are submitted to brutal treatment. One ends up dead and the other one saved from the same outcome by the timely arrival of a former servant. The American legal system is not keen on prosecuting the doctor, but the British vice-consul is relentless in his efforts to see justice for the ...more
I liked the author's writing style~ even the parts where it should have gotten slow, it really didn't. Mr. Olsen kept my attention for the entirety. The story of Dr. Hazzard, her fasting treatment plans, and her patients is gruesome. I would probably feel more comfortable reading about quick and bloody deaths than to know the every detail of a slow and agonizingly painful death.
The whole time I was reading, I'd snack. Constant food. The thought of dying by starvation, as told in this...more
The whole time I was reading, I'd snack. Constant food. The thought of dying by starvation, as told in this...more
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How do two grown women allow something like this to happen? The desire for outter beauty and the dream to attain perfection drove the sisters to relinquish control over their bodies, minds and finances.
How does an entire town in Washington turn the other way when faced with the realities of what was happening in the sanitarium within their town? Did they really believe the crackpot "doctor" was caring for these women? Did they think it was none of their business? Did they t...more
How does an entire town in Washington turn the other way when faced with the realities of what was happening in the sanitarium within their town? Did they really believe the crackpot "doctor" was caring for these women? Did they think it was none of their business? Did they t...more
This true crime novel wasn't gruesome or violent or graphic, but it was still quite morbid and shocking nonetheless. It was so interesting to me to see the similarities and differences between early American culture and our own modern culture. Between the way the locals viewed the problem, the media coverage, and the courtroom methods, I had plenty of material to do little compare-and-contrast sessions in my head. I love true courtroom stories, and find myself protesting that certain methods/...more
Xysea
rated it
Recommends it for:
historical fiction lovers and true crime afficianados
Shelves:
library-checked-out
Boy, this book is a doozy.
It's the story of two British heiresses and an unscrupulous con-person of a doctor who fleeces them of their money, their excess poundage and one of them of their lives.
Dr Linda Burfield Hazzard is a 'fasting specialist'; ie, she believes in fasting as a cure of most diseases and ailments and applies the 'practice' rigorously. Maybe a little too rigorously. Under her care, 40 patients waste away to death from starvation.
But Dr Haz...more
It's the story of two British heiresses and an unscrupulous con-person of a doctor who fleeces them of their money, their excess poundage and one of them of their lives.
Dr Linda Burfield Hazzard is a 'fasting specialist'; ie, she believes in fasting as a cure of most diseases and ailments and applies the 'practice' rigorously. Maybe a little too rigorously. Under her care, 40 patients waste away to death from starvation.
But Dr Haz...more
What is it with true crime books & movies staging dialogue?
"I was raised in a home of refinement, under sheltered and orthodox methods," she told them in a manner that suggested frequent repetition of the same words.
It's like those true crime shows: As she put on her night gown and hummed a lullaby--little did she know there was a predator lurking outside her bedroom window, waiting to strike at her when she slept. I sometimes think these writers synapses are firing ...more
"I was raised in a home of refinement, under sheltered and orthodox methods," she told them in a manner that suggested frequent repetition of the same words.
It's like those true crime shows: As she put on her night gown and hummed a lullaby--little did she know there was a predator lurking outside her bedroom window, waiting to strike at her when she slept. I sometimes think these writers synapses are firing ...more
A far cry from the sensational stuff on the shelves today, this book of true crime is based in solid research and the writing is excellent.
Here's the story: Set in 1911, two sisters, Claire and Dora Williamson, were firm believers in alternative medical treatments and had the reputation among family and friends as being "faddists," or latching on to all types of non-medical therapeutical cures. While vacationing in Canada that year, they came across some information relat...more
Here's the story: Set in 1911, two sisters, Claire and Dora Williamson, were firm believers in alternative medical treatments and had the reputation among family and friends as being "faddists," or latching on to all types of non-medical therapeutical cures. While vacationing in Canada that year, they came across some information relat...more
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Throughout his career, Gregg Olsen has demonstrated an ability to create a detailed narrative that offers readers fascinating insights into the lives of people caught in extraordinary circumstances.
A New York Times bestselling author, Olsen has written seven nonfiction books, three novels, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.
The award-winning a...more
More about Gregg Olsen...
A New York Times bestselling author, Olsen has written seven nonfiction books, three novels, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.
The award-winning a...more
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