Scandal at Bizarre: Rumor and Reputation in Jefferson's America - Softcover

Kierner, Cynthia A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813926165 ISBN 13: 9780813926162

Publisher: University of Virginia Press, 2006

Synopsis

In the early 1790s Richard Randolph was accused of fathering a child by his sister-in-law, Nancy, and murdering the baby shortly after its birth. Rumors about the incident, which occurred during a visit to the plantation of close family friends, spread like wildfire. Randolph found himself on trial for the crime largely because of the public outrage fueled by these rumors. The rest of the household suffered too, and only Nancy, who later married the esteemed New York statesman Gouverneur Morris, would find any degree of happiness. A tale of family passion, betrayal, and deception, Scandal at Bizarre is a fascinating historical portrait of the social and political realities of a world long vanished.

About this title

Book Description:

Scandal at Bizarre masterfully evokes the world of the Randolphs of Virginia, one of the South's most prominent colonial-era families. With a telling eye for detail, Cynthia Kierner unravels the details of a scandal that haunted this family for generations. In the early 1790s Richard Randolph was accused of fathering a child by his sister-in-law, Nancy, and murdering the baby shortly after its birth. Richard was acquitted of the crime in court but spent the rest of his life in the shadow of the scandal. The rest of the household suffered too, and only Nancy, who later married the prominent New York statesman Gouverneur Morris, would find any degree of happiness, while Richard's brother, the powerful politician John Randolph, did everything in his power to undermine her. A tale of family passion, betrayal, and deception, Scandal at Bizarre is a fascinating historical portrait of the social and political realities of a world long vanished.

From the Inside Flap:

"Cynthia Kierner has her hands on a great story and I don't know anyone better equipped to tell it. The Bizarre scandal revealed the declining political and economic influence of the postrevolutionary Virginia gentry, as well as the divisions that emerged in this gentry as it slipped from its previous position of unchallenged authority. Kierner has uncovered a fascinating and long-neglected incident in Virginia's early history, one that can provide new insights into the changing nature of this society after the American Revolution."--Peter Bardaglio, Professor of History, Ithaca College

"Beginning with the events of one distraught night in 1792, Cynthia Kierner uncovers a disturbing part of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia. Weaving subtle analysis throughout a taut narrative, this book reveals a complex world of sex, honor, slavery, law, public opinion, and power we have only glimpsed before."--Edward L. Ayers, author of In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859-1863, winner of the Bancroft Prize

"Screams in the dark . . . cries in the night . . . and footsteps on the stair. The story of the scandal at Bizarre is a cold case more compelling than any fiction. In the hands of a serious historian and talented writer, the tale of an American family caught in a maelstrom of gossip becomes a window on the lost world of the Virginia founders. A Scandal at Bizarre is that rare historical book--a page-turner!"--Catherine Allgor, Associate Professor of History, University of California at Riverside and author, Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Virginia Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0813926165
• ISBN 13: 9780813926162
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256