SUGGESTED BOOKS ON JAMES AND FLORENCE MAYBRICK
Classic books
There are three classic books on the Florence Maybrick case: Etched in Arsenicby Trevor Christie; This Friendless Lady by Nigel Morland and The Poisoned Life of Mrs Maybrick by Bernard Ryan Jr. All three have their strengths, but probably the Christie book is the most thorough and most well-researched. It also has notes and references that enable the reader to ascertain where his information has been sourced and make judgement on the reliability of his findings and opinions.
If reading some of the books listed above has capture your interest and you have become absorbed in the case, then there are some much older books that you might want to explore, though some of them can be expensive to purchase and difficult to access. Florence herself wrote her autobiography, My Fifteen Lost Years. Although the book is disappointing in that it tells you very little of her life before and during her marriage, there are some interesting passages about her life in prison. At the end of the book she also provides an interesting overview of the evidence against her and why it was so badly flawed.
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Recent Books
There are also several more recent books on the case which also well worth reading. The book by Anne Graham and Carol Emmas on Florence, The Last Victim, benefits from the authors use of material from the National Archive which was made available to the general public just as they commenced writing their book. Although the book is extremely readable and interesting when writing about Florence and her troubled life, it is not so good when it strays into the narrative that James Maybrick was ‘widely believed’ to be Jack the Ripper. Paul Feldman in his book suggested, without any real evidence that Anne Graham’s grandfather, William Graham, was the illegitimate son of Florence Maybrick. If true, that would have made Florence, Anne’s great-grandmother. Even Anne wrote that she was ‘not completely convinced’ by the theory. It is in fact a barely believable theory and the Ripper Diary references contained within the book only serve to detract from its overall quality.A book by Victoria Blake, Crime Archive: Mrs Maybrick, provides a relatively short account of Florence’s life and trial. What gives the book merit is its use of documents from the National Archives. Pictures of the primary source documents lodged in the Archives are provided within the book and they make extremely interesting reading. Those very same resources are available for anyone to examine in the National Archives in Kew and I would strongly recommend, if you have the time and inclination, to go and see them for yourself. Another extremely good book on the case is, Did She Kill Him? by Kate Colquhoun. It is well researched and the author has provided a lengthy set of notes at the back of the book which tell you exactly where particular quotes or pieces of information have been sourced. The book is very readable and Colquhoun also tries to explain how the conduct of Florence’s trial was shaped and affected by the social context and over-arching norms that prevailed in late-Victorian Britain. A slightly different slant to the case against Florence is to be found in the book, A Poisoned Life, by Richard Hutto. As an American, Hutto is at his best when he writes about events in the lives of the main protagonists that occurred in his country. He is especially informative when he focuses on the life and behaviour of Florence’s mother and her marriages in the United States. He also provides a lot of interesting details about how his countrymen and women viewed Florence who was, after all, the first American female to be sentenced to be hanged in Britain.
Older books
For a detailed breakdown of what was said at Florence’s trial, there are two excellent books. H. B. Irving’s account is part of the Notable English Trial series and he provides an almost verbatim account of what was said by all the witnesses, barristers and the judge at the proceedings. He also gives a short overview of events leading up to the trial at the front of the book. A similar verbatim account of the trial is to be found in J. H. Levy’s book, The Necessity for Criminal Appeal as Illustrated by the Florence Maybrick Case. Levy gives a more detailed account of events prior to the trial and he also provides details of the evidence and affidavits that were given after the trial had been completed. Unlike Irving, Levy also provides footnotes in which he clarifies statements and makes comments about what was said in court. Finally, there are two books on Florence’s trial by the Scottish lawyer, A. W. MacDougall. Both books have great strengths but also serious weaknesses. His first book, written in 1891, provides a mass of material on the case including letters by Baroness von Roques, Florence’s mother. On the other hand, the book is not easy to read, lacks a cohesive structure and suffers from repetition. His second book, written in 1896, is much shorter and easier to follow. It also contains a great deal of information, some of which is not to be found in any other book.