LOST LOVE: A True Story of Passion, Murder, and Justice in Old New York - Hardcover

Cooper, George

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679433988 ISBN 13: 9780679433989

Publisher: Pantheon, 1994

Synopsis

Discusses an unusual 1869 murder case in which Daniel McFarland, an abusive and jealous husband, killed celebrated Civil War journalist Albert Deane Richardson, his wife's lover, in a crime that raised issues of wives' rights and the sanctity of marriage. 10,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author:

George Cooper was professor of law at Columbia University.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

PREFACE Abby Sage and Albert Deane Richardson lived more than a century ago. But from the moment I began researching their story I was struck more by the similarities in our worlds than the differences. Each day, as I read 1869 and 1870 newspaper accounts, I found articles about enduring problems. On the world stage, for example, Haitians were revolting to overthrow a benighted regime, and Irish terrorists were threatening public buildings in London. Here at home there was rising concern about immigrants of color (then Chinese) who worked for low wages and undercut the jobs of Americans. It was a time of familiar "isms," socialism, spiritualism, vegetarianism, and feminism. Women's rights activists, inspired by the grant of freedom and equal opportunity to former slaves, demanded the same for themselves. Traditionalists opposed this reform movement as a threat to the sanctity of the home and society itself. And a story of two people caught up in a love relationship that tested conventional mores suddenly became a cause. The "media," a profusion of newspapers, latched onto the story and assailed the public with as much fact, opinion, rumor and speculation as they could. And when a trial in court followed, the lawyers used the strategy that has not lost any power today: blame the victim. Albert was a man any man might want to become -- celebrated war correspondent, adventurer, civil rights advocate. Abby was a talented lecturer and writer. I had intended to relate their story in a conventional way, as narrative non-fiction. But as I unearthed the sources of it, I found in books and journals, letters and dispatches, and in court testimony, that they and others had already told it. My task was only to edit and give structure to what was there in the archives. I have interposed myself where necessary to provide background, but this is primarily a book of voices from the time. All these are genuine, derived from the published and unpublished writings and statements of each character, condensed and edited for narrative clarity, but not otherwise altered.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0679433988
• ISBN 13: 9780679433989
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272