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xxstefaniereadsxx's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Jane Toppan was born in 1854 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her birth name was Honora Kelley, the daughter of Irish parents. (Her mother died from TB and her father was an alcoholic.) She was placed into an orphanage after the death of her mother, and her name was changed once she was placed with a family. She went to Cambridge Hospital when she was around thirty to study to be a nurse. By all accounts, her patients really enjoyed her and gave her the nickname Jolly Jane. It is also reported that she would falsify records or give medications to patients she liked to make them appear more ill to keep them around longer. She also used them as experiments, learning the effects of various drugs on the human body. She is suspected to be the perpetrator of around 100 murders, though she confessed to 31, and only 12 of those were proven. She used various methods of poison as her medium. She admitted that part of the reason she killed was for a sexual thrill, and admitted to touching her victims in sexual ways after they had died/as they were dying. She was a real character....
Harold Schechter is one of my favorite true crime writers, as I have stated on other book reviews for this author. I ordered this book because I knew I would like it, and I was right. I do not often read or listen to things about female serial killers, so this was of particular interest to me. I probably should have not read it while in the hospital surrounded by nurses, but, lucky for me, none of mine were murderous or crazy. I am always happy to strongly recommend any book by this author, so if you are interested in true crime, give this one a chance and check out his other books!
Harold Schechter is one of my favorite true crime writers, as I have stated on other book reviews for this author. I ordered this book because I knew I would like it, and I was right. I do not often read or listen to things about female serial killers, so this was of particular interest to me. I probably should have not read it while in the hospital surrounded by nurses, but, lucky for me, none of mine were murderous or crazy. I am always happy to strongly recommend any book by this author, so if you are interested in true crime, give this one a chance and check out his other books!
bea_pants's review against another edition
4.0
It's not so easy to get away with poisoning someone in 2016. Modern medicine can typically detect any poisons that can be obtained by the average human. Additionally, we're not so blinded by antiquated ideas of femininity that we'd fail to consider the possibility that a mother could poison her children or a nurse the patients in her charge. However, as Harold Schechter illustrates in Fatal, it was almost too easy for a woman in the late 19th century to get away with murdering those under her care.
The focus of Schechter's book is Jane Toppan, a nurse who murdered as many as 31 of her patients using a combination of morphia and atropia. By her own admission, Jane committed these murders for the sexual thrill she got when she would climb into bed with her patients and feel the life slip away from them. Schechter prefaces his story by telling the stories of other female poisoners who murdered those around them with arsenic, which was a commonly used household product at the time. This illustrates how truly inept modern medicine was at the time. In multiple instances, entire families are wiped out and no one suspects it is anything more than terrible misfortune.
Jane Toppan and her contemporary female poisoners were not like male serial killers who killed random strangers. The late 19th century female poisoner made victims of their husbands, children and dear friends who trusted the person attending their bedside. Fatal is a great addition to the true crime genre that offers a less than picturesque view of the U.S. in the later half of the 1800s.
The focus of Schechter's book is Jane Toppan, a nurse who murdered as many as 31 of her patients using a combination of morphia and atropia. By her own admission, Jane committed these murders for the sexual thrill she got when she would climb into bed with her patients and feel the life slip away from them. Schechter prefaces his story by telling the stories of other female poisoners who murdered those around them with arsenic, which was a commonly used household product at the time. This illustrates how truly inept modern medicine was at the time. In multiple instances, entire families are wiped out and no one suspects it is anything more than terrible misfortune.
Jane Toppan and her contemporary female poisoners were not like male serial killers who killed random strangers. The late 19th century female poisoner made victims of their husbands, children and dear friends who trusted the person attending their bedside. Fatal is a great addition to the true crime genre that offers a less than picturesque view of the U.S. in the later half of the 1800s.
ddreid33's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Torture, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Minor: Dementia, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Child death
selenajournal's review against another edition
5.0
It isn't always men who are savage enough to kill without rhyme or reason. There is always your Elizabeth Bathory, Lucrezia Borgia, Lydia Sherman, Sarah Jane Robinson, Aileen Wournos... and of course, Jolly Jane Toppan.
Schecter begins the book with Aileen Wournos, an underappreciated woman I think, who killed her seven victims because they allegedly tried to rape her/assault her while she was working as a prostitute. Next to Jane Toppan, however, Aileen Wournos is a tame kitty-cat.
Jane Toppan was brought into the world as Honora Kelley but was indentured to and adopted by the Toppan family, consisting of Mrs. Ann Toppan and her lovely daughter Elizabeth. As far as we know, they treated her well, but her role in the family was that of a slave.
Jane attended nursing school which was no small feat in that day and age. There was a rigorous training that we now might find unconstitutional. Despite all of the training and work, Jane found time to experiment on some of her patients and the morphia & atropine fun began.
Jolly Jane never graduated with any degree and instead of continuing with nursing she went into private home care. It was then that Jane really began having fun. The freedom of not being under anyone's watchful eye - the power of being the only care provider for your patient... well, let's just say she got a little excited. And when Jane get excited, many funerals are had. Still, it was years before Jane was ever suspected and brought to trial, leaving as many as one hundred alleged corpses in her path.
This book was wonderfully written. Schechter really researched the topic before embarking on the book. He referenced newspaper articles of the time as well as public records. My favorite part of this entire book is the intimacy of "watching" her kill her victims. There is a lot of information about just how she went about killing her patients and it was phrased beautifully.
So I guess there's a lesson to be learned.
Beware the next time you're handed medicine. "Drink it, it's good for you," may be the last words you hear.
(I'd give it an eight/ten)
Schecter begins the book with Aileen Wournos, an underappreciated woman I think, who killed her seven victims because they allegedly tried to rape her/assault her while she was working as a prostitute. Next to Jane Toppan, however, Aileen Wournos is a tame kitty-cat.
Jane Toppan was brought into the world as Honora Kelley but was indentured to and adopted by the Toppan family, consisting of Mrs. Ann Toppan and her lovely daughter Elizabeth. As far as we know, they treated her well, but her role in the family was that of a slave.
Jane attended nursing school which was no small feat in that day and age. There was a rigorous training that we now might find unconstitutional. Despite all of the training and work, Jane found time to experiment on some of her patients and the morphia & atropine fun began.
Jolly Jane never graduated with any degree and instead of continuing with nursing she went into private home care. It was then that Jane really began having fun. The freedom of not being under anyone's watchful eye - the power of being the only care provider for your patient... well, let's just say she got a little excited. And when Jane get excited, many funerals are had. Still, it was years before Jane was ever suspected and brought to trial, leaving as many as one hundred alleged corpses in her path.
This book was wonderfully written. Schechter really researched the topic before embarking on the book. He referenced newspaper articles of the time as well as public records. My favorite part of this entire book is the intimacy of "watching" her kill her victims. There is a lot of information about just how she went about killing her patients and it was phrased beautifully.
So I guess there's a lesson to be learned.
Beware the next time you're handed medicine. "Drink it, it's good for you," may be the last words you hear.
(I'd give it an eight/ten)
hjmo's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the narrative style and the story itself was fascinating. I do wish there had been footnotes and references so I could do further research. At times it went off on tangents that did give historical context but could be a little long. Overall it was a fast read and well worth it for the research aspect.
blueranger9's review against another edition
4.0
This was my first time reading anything written by Harold Schechter but I really enjoyed it. For a story about a real-life female serial killer, it read like non-fiction and I was utterly engrossed. Will definitely be reading more from him in the future.
lizbarr's review against another edition
2.0
A melodramatic and unsatisfying account of the life of Jane Toppan, notorious serial killer of the early 20th century. "Depraved", in my opinion, is a word to be used sparingly, not chucked around willy-nilly.
majesdane's review against another edition
5.0
I honestly find Jane Toppan to be one of the most terrifying female killers in history. This book provides look into her life and the murders she committed; I always enjoy Schechter's true crime books (and he has many!), as they never feel dry and are always engaging and nicely paced.
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