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This was super interesting, tho possibly the shortest true-crime book I‘ve ever read. Alice is a young woman in Victorian-era Memphis, TN, who murders her ex-fiancée Freda out of love and jealousy. Their story as lovers and the political/social beliefs of the time were fascinating, and being from Memphis, it was fun to read about local history.

Nineteenth century teenage love story becomes American tragedy. The case against Alice Mitchell killing her fiancé Freda Ward in the courts eyes was not about murderous revenge but the act of two women being in love is seen as unnatural, immoral and indecent!!! #herstory #aliceandfreda #rebelgirls #bookclub #bookshelf #bookoftheday #history #ilovemyjob #somanybookssolittletime #whatareyoureading

This book is so heartbreaking. It‘s hard to believe this actually happened. Well worth reading. The lunch and pie was a nice addition as well.

An astonishing true crime story that began with a plan between two young women to marry and live as husband and wife in Tennessee in 1891. Instead, 19-year-old Alice murdered her 17-year-old ex-fiancé, Freda, in front of witnesses. She also confessed, but what she wanted to do (marry a woman) was so outlandish that she was considered insane. Love letters and other historical documents, as well as charming line drawings, are a bonus. #LGBTQ

Oh dear. 19th-century medical doctors believed that “excessive work on sewing machines” was partly to blame for the rise in “forbidden friendships” between women. Frequent nosebleeds were diagnosed as “vicarious menstruation” and was bodily proof that a woman had transgressed gender boundaries. 😳

The kind of violence Alice had displayed with her father‘s razor was a ‘masculine‘ act as much as it was a privilege of white men. If anyone else was seizing it for themselves—as the nascent suffrage movement, demands for broader political enfranchisement, calls for fair wages and greater opportunities suggested—the traditional power base of white America was in peril.

In addition to Alice Mitchell, Ida B Wells was the only other woman in 1892 Memphis whose story was circulated around the country. Both women undermined, challenged & disregarded white male authority—& the treatment they received had far more to do with their respective races than the transgression itself. White men threatened to kill Wells for what she wrote, whereas no one wanted to see Alice, who actually committed murder, hanged for her crime.

No juror who called himself a Southern gentleman, declared the Commercial, would indict a young white lady from a good family. Even though the evidence was substantial and Alice‘s guilt ‘indisputable,‘ the Commercial bemoaned the possibility of any judgement against this poor young woman of good standing. If there was one thing the nation should know about the men of Shelby County, it was that ‘their chivalry exceeds their sense of justice.‘

“But to Americans in 1892, Alice Mitchell‘s insistence on loving and wishing to marry and support a woman were, in and of themselves, clear signs of lunacy, and there was no shortage of physicians willing to corroborate that assumption.”
Book synchronicity: I‘m reminded of one of the tragic incidents in The Heart‘s Invisible Furies.

I wasn't entirely satisfied with this book, particularly the way the information was organized. However, I'm really glad to have learned a lot more about the awful and tragic case of Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward. I think anyone interested in the legal and psychological history of homosexuality in America should read this book.

My current read has a list of the main characters and their #family in the front! I think that's very promising for an interesting, detailed read. #jubilantjuly

#libraryhaul

I can't get over the name of this chapter, you guys. This book is a great for teens learning about feminist and gender political history.

A YA true crime novel for $1.99? Yes please!

This is a different sort of true-crime book, Ebook is on sale today.

I'm on a roll, this is the third book I finished today! All started earlier in the month, but I've just been reading slowly for some reason. This one is the heartbreaking true story of a murder in Tennessee, at the time (1890s) put down to the fact that a woman who passionately loved another woman could only be insane. Makes me feel pretty good about how far we've come until I realize how far we still have to go.

A well told story about Alice and Freda, and their doomed love, in 1892 Memphis. I love finding these fairly obscure illuminating stories. This book was sad, but am glad to have read this tribute to those two young women.