You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
In 1856, Martha Brown was publicly hanged for the brutal murder of her husband. Among those who witnessed her death was a sixteen-year-old local lad and the memory of her execution haunted Thomas Hardy for the rest of his life. Based on a true story, this is a captivating tale of love and violent death in 1850s Dorset.
Based on a true story, a captivating tale of passionate love and violent death in 1850s Dorset. In 1856, Martha Brown was publicly hanged for the brutal murder of her husband. Among those who witnessed her death was a sixteen-year-old local lad, and the memory of her execution haunted him for the rest of his life. Corresponding to a friend many years later, he wrote thus: 'I remember what a fine figure she showed against the sky as she hung in the misty rain, and how the tight black silk gown set off her shape as she wheeled half-round and back.' The writer was Thomas Hardy. Martha Brown was an ordinary woman of humble parentage, probably illiterate. Very little is known about her. Despite a small team of dedicated researchers delving into old records and original sources to try and piece together her life story, she remains tantalising and elusive, seemingly exercising a strange and powerful spell, even from the grave. Martha was described as 'a wonderful-looking woman with beautiful curls'. It is easy to see why she would have married a handsome, younger, virile man who could perhaps release her from a life of tedium and drudgery. Why did John Brown marry Martha? Some people have
The Diary of a Lady -- The Forman World -- House and Farm -- The Enslaved Community -- On Sassafras Neck -- Home and Exile -- World's End.
The first full-scale study of the drawings and paintings of the Brontë sisters and their brother, Branwell.