“The Murder Of Helen Jewett”
As promised, here’s my review of…
The Murder Of Helen Jewett
by Patricia Cline Cohen
Immaculately researched book about an infamous 1836 prostitute murder that was a sensation in New York tabloids. The most interesting part of the book was its exploration of 1830′s New York brothel culture, and Miss Helen Jewett (a.k.a. Dorcas Doyen) herself – who was a bit of 19th century feminist. She was educated, intelligent, manipulative, and independent – the ultimate threat to an insecure 19th century man (which explains her doom). There’s a tendency in society to feel sorry for women who have to “resort to prostitution” to support themselves, but this book does an excellent job of explaining just how well off high-end prostitutes like Helen Jewett were during their time – receiving $5 per “visit” (and an average of 2-3 visits per day) at a time when highly skilled working men were earning $10-12 a week. Unfortunately, the second half of the story – of murderer Richard Robinson and his maddeningly biased trial (the judge suggested the jury can disregard the testimony of Jewett’s fellow prostitutes who saw Robinson leave Jewett’s room the night of the murder) - is less compelling than the first, causing me to lose interest and take forever to finally finish the book. (3/5)
More Murderous History is available to peruse at The Library Eclectica‘s Maniacal Monsters aisle.
