Title
The Scandalous Hamiltons
Author
Bill Shaffer
Genre
Non Fiction
Synopsis
A historical true crime story almost too tawdry to be true - a con woman met the descendant of a Founding Father in a brothel, duped him into marriage using an infant purchased from a baby farm, then went to prison for stabbing the couple’s baby nurse - all while in a common- law marriage with another man. The scandal surrounding Evangeline and Robert Ray Hamilton was one of the sensations of the Gilded Age, a sordid, gripping tale involving bigamy, bribery, sex, and violence.
Through personal correspondence, court records, and sensational newspaper accounts, The Scandalous Hamiltons explores not only the full, riveting saga of ill- fated Ray and Eva, but the rise of tabloid journalism - including an exclusive interview conducted by world- famous investigative reporter Nellie Bly - in a story that unfurls as a timeless tale of ambition, greed, and obsession.
Review
Let me start off by saying as a true crime fan I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of this story before.
The Scandalous Hamiltons is very well written and includes so many details about the people, the city and the crimes committed you can literally place yourself back in the opulence of the Gilded Age and feel like you're reading the headlines every morning while sipping your coffee.
I was surprised to learn that this “scandal” was responsible for launching tabloid headlines in major newspapers.
The Scandalous Hamiltons explores the ups and downs of the Gilded Age and the classism that ran rampant during that time.
The fact that Ray met Eva at a brothel was seriously glossed over as if it was society's norm, granted I wasn't around during the Gilded Age so it may have well been normal.
However, it seemed as if the entire story and history of both parties was deliberately set out to make the Hamilton family the victims who had never done anything wrong and Eva painted as nothing more than a conniving, greedy, selfish woman.
Don't get me wrong she was all that and more but it would have been nice if at the time there would have been more interviews with her directly to get the full picture of her life as part of the Hamilton family.
The crimes Eva committed were incomprehensible where the children are involved.( I would caution reading this story if you have recently lost a baby/ child) as it may be too much to bear.
The short lived romance/ marriage/ divorce of Ray and Eva saga continued for years even after Ray's death.
Even though it was proven that their marriage was not legal because she was in a common law marriage to another man she tried to sue to gain everything Ray owned upon his death claiming to be the widow.
Obviously this did not work but it goes to show just how far she would go to get what she wanted.
The author did an amazing job researching this case and that is extremely obvious when you start reading.
All around this was a good book and I would recommend it if you like non fiction/ true crime.
Comments
Post a Comment