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The Women of Peasenhall
“If, as people were saying, the new century was to be the century of the common people, the Peasenhall case was an appropriate overture. The victim was a servant girl, the accused was a workman, the witnesses were, almost without exception, villagers"
This novel is based on a famous real-life murder in Suffolk in 1902. Rose Harsent, a young housemaid, was found with her throat cut in the kitchen of Providence House, Peasenhall, early on a Sunday morning in June.
She was pregnant, and there had been some attempt to set fire to the body. All the evidence pointed clearly to the guilt of William Gardiner, a leading figure at the chapel where she worshipped. There had been strong rumours about Gardiner and Rose.
Gardiner's little house, where he lived with his wife and six children, was only a stone's throw away from Providence House, and a letter of assignation for the night of her death was found in Rose's bedroom. Gardiner was put on trial for wilful murder.
To this strange story Mr. White brings the perception and wit that made his earlier novel, The Smartest Grave, so outstanding.
He conjures up the 'Silly Suffolk' of a bygone age, its characters and its oddities: such as the 'pikers', the 'bible bangers' and the 'proxymater' (a wife-substitute for a man during his real wife's pregnancy). And he provides a new and plausible solution to the nagging mystery of who really killed Rose Harsent.
R. J. WHITE has been a Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge, for some twenty years. He has also served in his College as Dean and Librarian. Since the end of the Second World War he has been a University Lecturer in History.
This novel is based on a famous real-life murder in Suffolk in 1902. Rose Harsent, a young housemaid, was found with her throat cut in the kitchen of Providence House, Peasenhall, early on a Sunday morning in June.
She was pregnant, and there had been some attempt to set fire to the body. All the evidence pointed clearly to the guilt of William Gardiner, a leading figure at the chapel where she worshipped. There had been strong rumours about Gardiner and Rose.
Gardiner's little house, where he lived with his wife and six children, was only a stone's throw away from Providence House, and a letter of assignation for the night of her death was found in Rose's bedroom. Gardiner was put on trial for wilful murder.
To this strange story Mr. White brings the perception and wit that made his earlier novel, The Smartest Grave, so outstanding.
He conjures up the 'Silly Suffolk' of a bygone age, its characters and its oddities: such as the 'pikers', the 'bible bangers' and the 'proxymater' (a wife-substitute for a man during his real wife's pregnancy). And he provides a new and plausible solution to the nagging mystery of who really killed Rose Harsent.
R. J. WHITE has been a Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge, for some twenty years. He has also served in his College as Dean and Librarian. Since the end of the Second World War he has been a University Lecturer in History.
159 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1969
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April 7, 2021
A novel based on a real life murder can be frustrating but at least it brings you to the crime which piques the interest. There are no photos - it's a novel - and the story unfolds around two main characters from whom we basically learn everything. The conclusion is an interesting and convincing explanation of what actually might have happened but it leaves a taste of dissatisfaction as we really don't know what happened to Mr. Gardiner.
This was written in 1969 - thus the cover - and was long enough after the event to pass most of the players by.
I've given it a three as it was not as meaty as I'd hoped, but then it is a novel and not a factual re-telling. Have I said it is a novel and thefore interesting but not as interesting as a factual re-telling?
This was written in 1969 - thus the cover - and was long enough after the event to pass most of the players by.
I've given it a three as it was not as meaty as I'd hoped, but then it is a novel and not a factual re-telling. Have I said it is a novel and thefore interesting but not as interesting as a factual re-telling?
Displaying 1 of 1 review