The Wicked boy : : the Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer
Book - 2016 364.152 Su 1 On Shelf No requests on this item
Sign in to request
Locations
Call Number: 364.152 Su
On Shelf At: Downtown Library
Location & Checkout Length | Call Number | Checkout Length | Item Status |
---|---|---|---|
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout |
364.152 Su | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
First published in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing.
Part I: Ten days in July. The three of us ; All I know is that we are rich ; I will tell you the truth -- Part II: The city of the damned. The machine and the abyss ; A kiss goodbye ; This is the knife ; Chronicles of disorder ; Here goes nothing -- Part III: These tender times. Cover her face ; The boys springing up amongst us ; It is all over now ; Box him up -- Part IV: The murderers' paradise. Those that know not what they do ; To have you home again ; In the plastic stage -- Part V: With trumpets and sound of cornet. Smooth in the morning light ; Such a hell of a noise.
In East London in the summer of 1895, Robert Coombes (age thirteen) and his brother Nattie (age twelve) were arrested for matricide and sent for trial at the Old Bailey. Robert confessed to having stabbed his mother, but his lawyers argued that he was insane. The judge sentenced him to detention in Broadmoor, the most infamous criminal lunatic asylum in the land. Shockingly, Broadmoor turned out to be the beginning of a new life for Robert. At a time of great tumult and uncertainty, Robert Coombes's case crystallized contemporary anxieties about the education of the working classes, the dangers of pulp fiction, and evolving theories of criminality, childhood, and insanity. With riveting detail and rich atmosphere, Summerscale re-creates this terrible crime and its aftermath, uncovering an extraordinary story of man's capacity to overcome the past. -- Adapted from book jacket.
REVIEWS & SUMMARIES
Library Journal ReviewPublishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Author Notes
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
No community reviews. Write one below!
PUBLISHED
New York : Penguin Press, 2016.
Year Published: 2016
Description: 378 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, genealogical table, maps ; 22 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book
ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9781594205781
1594205787
SUBJECTS
Coombes, Robert, -- 1882-1949 -- Childhood and youth.
Coombes, Nathaniel, -- 1883-1946 -- Childhood and youth.
Coombes, Robert, -- 1882-1949 -- Trials, litigation, etc.
Coombes, Nathaniel, -- 1883-1946 -- Trials, litigation, etc.
Juvenile homicide -- London -- History -- 19th century.
Murder -- History -- London -- 19th century.
True crime stories.