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On 6th May 1840, Lord William Russell is found dead in
his bed in a quiet Mayfair street, his throat cut so deeply it is almost
severed. The house is in disarray, the result of a seeming faked burglary
designed to throw the police off the scent. It soon becomes apparent that it
was an inside job and all the in-house staff fall under intense investigation.
The culprit is discovered about half way through the book, but their
arrest is far from the end of the story as they release multiple, contradictory
confessions, in one blaming William Harrison Ainsworth’s novel Jack Sheppard, in which the notorious
criminal is the hero, for giving them the idea. This leads to a discussion of
the popularity of ‘Newgate novels’ and the impact they had on criminal
behaviour. Books were becoming increasingly affordable and, at a time before
intellectual property law, cheap knock-offs and plays proliferated, making
these gruesome tales accessible to most members of society. A number of
criminals were said to have been influenced by these novels, and division in
the literary world emerged.
Dickens’ Oliver Twist could
easily have been classified as a Newgate novel, something he was keen to avoid.
Ainsworth on the other hand embraced the trend, and although initially it
brought him fame and fortune, the specific mention of his novel by the
condemned caused an abrupt change in its popularity. He continued writing
throughout his life but never regained the status he’d originally garnered from
Jack Sheppard.
A book examining the link between fiction and true crime is an
interesting concept, but the connection is not as important in this particular
tale as perhaps the blurb suggests. It is however, an interesting book that
places Lord Russell’s murder in the wider social context of the time. An era
where criminal celebrities were emerging and public executions were still a
public spectacle that attracted tens of thousands, yet on the cusp of moving
toward less barbaric, more private, punishments.
A slightly slow start is worth persevering with as you’re led into
the dark underworld of Victorian respectability. Harman closes with comments on
some of the unresolved mysteries of the case, suggesting possible answers, but
ultimately leaving you wondering what really happened that fateful night.
Pick up a copy:
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