The Trials of Laura Fair Sex, Murder, and Insanity in the Victorian West |
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| Author:
| Haber, Carole |
| ISBN: | 978-1-4829-2417-6 |
| Publication Date: | Aug 2013 |
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Incorporated
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| Book Format: | CD-Audio |
| List Price: | USD $69.95 |
Book Description:
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On November 3, 1870, Laura Fair shot and killed her married lover, Alexander Crittenden. In the two trials that followed, Fair's lawyers, supported by expert testimony from physicians, claimed that the shooting was the result of temporary insanity caused by dysmenorrhea, a painful menstrual cycle. After a guilty verdict the first time around, Fair was later found innocent, though she remained an outcast for the rest of her life. Carole Haber uses Fair's story to discuss reputation in...
More DescriptionOn November 3, 1870, Laura Fair shot and killed her married lover, Alexander Crittenden. In the two trials that followed, Fair's lawyers, supported by expert testimony from physicians, claimed that the shooting was the result of temporary insanity caused by dysmenorrhea, a painful menstrual cycle. After a guilty verdict the first time around, Fair was later found innocent, though she remained an outcast for the rest of her life. Carole Haber uses Fair's story to discuss reputation in the American West and to examine the era's most controversial issues, opening the door to a broader discussion about the ways in which reputation, especially female reputation, is shaped and accepted.