The Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers: Sex and-- Free PDF Ebook Download

Free PDF Ebook Download Paperback: 218 pages Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1st edition (August 7, 1997) Language: English ISBN-10: 0195113926 ISBN-13: 978-0195113921 Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches From Publishers Weekly In 1841, beautiful, Connecticut-born, 21-year-old Mary Cecilia Rogers disappeared from her mother's New York City boardinghouse; her badly bruised body was found three days later in the Hudson River. Speculation flourished that she was brutally raped by a gang, or killed by a lone assassin. Later testimony indicated that she had died in a botched abortion; yet, despite the alleged deathbed confession of an innkeeper who oversaw the abortion, her death remained unsolved. Edgar Allen Poe fictionalized the tragedy in his tale "The Mystery of Marie Roget." Journalists and politicians who frequented the Manhattan cigar store where Rogers tended counter made her death a cause celebre. Amid hysteria over crime, New York City passed the Police Reform Act of 1845, allowing closer social and political surveillance; the same year, a state law criminalized abortion. In a mesmerizing, superb study, intriguingly illustrated with period engravings and woodcuts, Montclair State University history professor Srebnick uses the Rogers saga to throw a floodlight on sexuality in antebellum America, women's history, urban mass culture, the rise of the popular press and the birth of detective fiction. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal The death of Mary Rogers in 1841, in New York City at the age of 21, has been represented and examined in a variety of accounts, both fictional (Edgar Allan Poe's Mystery of Mary Roget and Charles Burdett's Lilla Hart) and nonfictional (Raymond Paul's Who Murdered Mary Rogers, 1971). Possibly a murder or the result of a botched abortion, her death epitomized the case of the young woman at odds with a violent and sexual city. Srebnick (history, Montclair State Univ.) reveals the culture and life of New York City and its inhabitants through the individuals involved in the investigation. The author then ties these figures to the genres of the dime novel and detective fiction. Her well-written volume is accessible to scholars and the public at large. Highly recommended for all readers.?Jenny Presnell, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, Ohio Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews