The Wicked Boy
Ratings10
Average rating3.2
15
Ratings10
Average rating3.2
In East London in the summer of 1895, Robert Coombes (age thirteen) and his brother Nattie (age twelve) were arrested for matricide and sent for trial at the Old Bailey. Robert confessed to having stabbed his mother, but his lawyers argued that he was insane. The judge sentenced him to detention in Broadmoor, the most infamous criminal lunatic asylum in the land. Shockingly, Broadmoor turned out to be the beginning of a new life for Robert. At a time of great tumult and uncertainty, Robert Coombes's case crystallized contemporary anxieties about the education of the working classes, the dangers of pulp fiction, and evolving theories of criminality, childhood, and insanity. With riveting detail and rich atmosphere, Summerscale re-creates this terrible crime and its aftermath, uncovering an extraordinary story of man's capacity to overcome the past. --
Reviews with the most likes.
This was really good. I got a bit bogged down with some of the psychological stuff, but the info on prison and penny dreadfuls was really interesting. I also really enjoyed the epilogue.
Actually pretty boring for a true crime book about a child who murders his mother in Victorian England. But I did think the conclusion was somewhat interesting if a little schmaltzy for my tastes.
3.5 stars
I love the overall point of this, that you can do something terrible when you are young and still bounce back from it. I loved the example of an asylum that actually healed patients. And I love that the author, looking at this through a modern lens, thought to question how Robert and Nattie were being raised.
What got me was all of the tangents. So many tangents.
Maybe it's because it's summer and I just don't have the normal amount of patience but this felt like a lecture that just would not end.
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