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The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith Douglas MacGowan

The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith By Douglas MacGowan

The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith by Douglas MacGowan


$35.99
Condition - Very Good
10 in stock

Summary

The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith is an engrossing insight into the suffocating world of Victorian women and the great divide between social classes that doomed a daring relationship before it had begun. For true crime and whodunit lovers, Victoriana enthusiasts and those interested in Scottish legal history.

The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith Summary

The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith: Victorian Scotland's Trial of the Century by Douglas MacGowan

Discover the true story of Victorian Scotland's trial of the century.

It was a case that rocked Victorian society. Emile L'Angelier was a working-class immigrant from the Channel Islands who began a clandestine affair with prominent Glasgow socialite Madeleine Smith. Six weeks after Emile threatened to show Madeleine's father their passionate letters, on 23 March 1857, he was found dead from arsenic poisoning. The evidence against Madeleine seemed overwhelming as she went to trial for murdering her lover.

Douglas MacGowan's vivid account reads by turns like a thriller, a love story and a courtroom drama. He quotes extensively from contemporary sources, notably the pathology reports, the trial testimony and the infamous correspondence between Madeleine and Emile, whose explicit content so shocked Victorian sensibilities. Ultimately it is up to the reader to judge Madeleine's guilt or innocence.

The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith Reviews

'This case has it all - class, gender, the whiff of scandal and a whodunnit, all wrapped up in the hypocrisy of the legal system of Victorian Scotland'

-- Professor Emeritus David Wilson

'absolutely compelling'

* Evening Times *

'a meticulous overview of the evidence'

* Sunday Herald *

'if you are... interested in true-life Victorian crime, then this is definitely the book for you'

-- Graham Drew * Dundee Courier *

'The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith... now lays bare the whole saga including the infamous letters, the pathology reports and the trial testimony'

-- Nadia Vidinova

About Douglas MacGowan

Douglas MacGowan was born in Chicago in 1963 and has lived in California since 1968. He received a Bachelor of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco in 1988 and has contributed articles to the Scottish Journal, The Scotsman and Celtic Heritage. He has been married for ten years and currently lives on the San Francisco peninsula with his wife, far too many cats and one dog.

Additional information

GOR012153069
9781846975806
1846975808
The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith: Victorian Scotland's Trial of the Century by Douglas MacGowan
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Birlinn General
20210902
256
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith