Monday, December 7, 2020

Book Review: Deadly Women of Ontario (2011)



The first woman hanged in Upper Canada was Mary Osborn, was executed for poisoning her disappointing husband because she was in love with another man.

Angelina Napolitano, an Italian immigrant living in Sault Ste. Marie, hacked her abusive husband to death with an axe.

Carrie Davis, a young English servant in World War I Toronto, shot her employer because she was convinced he had “ruined” her.

Deadly Women of Ontario recalls eight notorious women from Ontario’s past.  Author Cheryl MacDonald presents eight dramatic cases, sharing the details of everyday life in another time, a time when justice was actually quite chivalrous. During this gentler time some women were actually able to get away with murder and escape the hangman’s noose. Not always, but sometimes.

The writing in this book is a little dry but never boring.  Of course, it could just be the tales themselves that are never boring.

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