Description |
1 online resource (xi, 295 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations |
Series |
Women in the west |
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Women in the West.
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Contents |
A girl from Montana -- Midnight alibi -- Outlaw woman -- Enigma Woman -- The ultimate penalty -- The people v. Nellie Madison -- The defense -- Lady Macbeth -- The verdict -- A condemned woman -- An abused woman -- The reprieve -- Life in prison -- A traditional woman |
Summary |
"Crack shot." "Enigma woman." "Good with ponies and pistols." "A much-married woman." What if such an unconventional woman - and the press unanimously agreed that Nellie May Madison was indeed unconventional - were to get away with murder? Shortly after her husband's bullet-riddled body was found in the couple's Burbank apartment, police issued an all-points bulletin for the "beautiful, dark-haired widow." The ensuing drama unfolded with all the strange twists and turns of a noir crime novel. In this intriguing cultural history, Kathleen A. Cairns tells the true tale of the first woman sentenced to death in California, Nellie May Madison. Her story offers a glimpse into law and disorder in 1930s Los Angeles while bringing to life a remarkable character whose plight reflects on the status of woman, the workings of the media and the judiciary system, and the stratification of society in her time.; An intriguing cultural history, Cairns' re-creation of the case from murder to trial to aftermath casts an eye forward to our own love-hate affair with celebrity crimes and our abiding ambivalence about domestic violence abuse as a defense for murder |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-288) and index |
Notes |
English |
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Print version record |
Subject |
Madison, Nellie May, 1895-1953.
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SUBJECT |
Madison, Nellie May, 1895-1953
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Madison, Nellie May, 1895-1953 fast |
Subject |
Women murderers -- California -- Biography
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Abused women -- California -- Biography
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Sex role -- United States -- History
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HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
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Abused women
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Sex role
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Women murderers
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California
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United States
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Genre/Form |
Biographies
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History
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Biographies.
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Biographies.
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Form |
Electronic book
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ISBN |
9780803206922 |
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0803206925 |
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9786610823796 |
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6610823790 |
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