Scan barcode
A review by rebelbelle13
The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
4.25
Every once in awhile, I'll be in the mood for a good non-fiction book- especially a true crime, or a mystery. If it takes place in Victorian England, that's even better. This checked all those boxes for me, and after seeing a copy for sale at a local second hand book store I became intrigued over Robert Coombs and his story.
Wicked Boy follows Robert's life primarily from the time he was 15, through the crime, the trial, his service in the first World War, and a bit of his life afterwards until his death in 1949. The crime in question is the murder of his mother in 1895. Summerscale did an amazing job of describing the events surrounding the crime, the state of the world at the time, who was involved and what their lives were like, and what became of all those who had a part in Robert's life. She not only described the murder, but painted a broad picture of life at the time, how the crime was received, the backlash, and other similar crimes of the period. She even went on to detail the asylum Broadmoor and its patients (where Robert was ultimately sent for his crime).
I found it fascinating that the media blamed Penny Dreadfuls (essentially short novels/comics of adventure, mystery and derring do aimed at teenage boys) for influencing Robert to kill his mother- not unlike the media of today blaming teen crime on violent video games. In one hundred years, people have not changed that much.
I was fascinated (like Summerscale) as to the 'why' of the crime. Robert seemed insane at the time of the murder, hearing voices, showing no remorse, and stealing from his mother after having killed her. The intriguing part of this narrative is the fact that he turned his life around after having spent more than a decade at the asylum, joined the war effort and became a decorated soldier, not to mention taking on a ward and raising him to adulthood.
Summerscale did a vast amount of research for this book, and it shows. I was constantly interested and invested, wondering what was going to happen next.
I really enjoyed Wicked Boy, and I would certainly read more from Summerscale in the future.
Wicked Boy follows Robert's life primarily from the time he was 15, through the crime, the trial, his service in the first World War, and a bit of his life afterwards until his death in 1949. The crime in question is the murder of his mother in 1895. Summerscale did an amazing job of describing the events surrounding the crime, the state of the world at the time, who was involved and what their lives were like, and what became of all those who had a part in Robert's life. She not only described the murder, but painted a broad picture of life at the time, how the crime was received, the backlash, and other similar crimes of the period. She even went on to detail the asylum Broadmoor and its patients (where Robert was ultimately sent for his crime).
I found it fascinating that the media blamed Penny Dreadfuls (essentially short novels/comics of adventure, mystery and derring do aimed at teenage boys) for influencing Robert to kill his mother- not unlike the media of today blaming teen crime on violent video games. In one hundred years, people have not changed that much.
I was fascinated (like Summerscale) as to the 'why' of the crime. Robert seemed insane at the time of the murder, hearing voices, showing no remorse, and stealing from his mother after having killed her. The intriguing part of this narrative is the fact that he turned his life around after having spent more than a decade at the asylum, joined the war effort and became a decorated soldier, not to mention taking on a ward and raising him to adulthood.
Summerscale did a vast amount of research for this book, and it shows. I was constantly interested and invested, wondering what was going to happen next.
I really enjoyed Wicked Boy, and I would certainly read more from Summerscale in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness