- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (Mar 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0061773972
- ISBN-13: 978-0061773976
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.7 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
31 Bond Street
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"A blend of historical evidence and fictional imagining, an engrossing read"
WASHINGTON POST
“This is a deft and highly readable book, much recommended for those who enjoyed The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.” DAILY MAIL
“A gripping recreation of this true life crime.” THE INDEPENDENT
“Mystery and romance galore.” THE SUN
“An enthralling page-turner to the very end.” SUNDAY HERALD
“Deftly blending known fact with fiction, she [Horan] concocts a Gothic tale of passion and intrigue, shot through with courtroom fireworks.” WBQ
"A historical crime story in the hands of a skilled writer." SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW
“Horan brings to life a sensational 19th-century New York City murder trial in which a woman is accused of viciously killing her husband. . . An engaging mix of fact and fiction, with a juicy trial, sensationalistic reporters and lots of local urban color.” KIRKUS REVIEWS
“Horan’s characters, like Edith Wharton’s, are motivated by social class and survival in a world ruled by wealth and national uncertainty. This unique look at history and the private lives of those affected by it makes for captivating reading.” BOOKLIST
"A gripping legal thriller that proceeds at the leisurely pace of a 19th-Century novel." MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Product Description
Based on a true story, mystery and intrigue in pre-Civil War New York.
The sensational murder of Dr. Harvey Burdell in his lower Manhattan home made front-page news across the United States in 1857. "Who killed Dr. Burdell?" was a question that gripped the nation. 31 Bond Street, a debut novel by Ellen Horan, interweaves fiction with actual events in a clever historical narrative that blends romance, politics, greed and sexual intrigue in a suspenseful drama.
The story opens when an errand boy discovers Burdell's body in the bedroom of his lavish Bond Street home. The novel's central characters are Dr. Harvey Burdell, a dentist and unscrupulous businessman; his lover, the ambitious, Brooklyn-born Emma Cunningham; the District Attorney, Abraham Oakey Hall (later to become mayor of New York); and Henry Clinton, a prominent defense lawyer. The enigmatic relationship between Emma and Dr. Burdell makes her the prime suspect, and her trial is nothing less than sensational. Will she hang? Were her teenaged daughters involved? What did the servants know? Who was the last person to see Burdell alive? During the trial, the two lawyers fight for truth, justice and their careers.
This novel is set against the background of bustling, corrupt New York City, just four years before the Civil War. The author intertwines two main narratives: the trial through the perspective of the defense attorney Henry Clinton, and the story of the lovely young widow Emma Cunningham whose search for a husband brings her into the arms and home of Dr. Burdell.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I read this novel from start to finish in one sitting.
A wealthy dentist is murdered in his home in 1850s New York, and the coroner's suspicion falls on the young widow who lives in the upstairs rooms and keeps house for him. She is vilified by the press but she insists to her lawyer that she is innocent and that all the claims in the newspapers are lies. The novel explores the widow's character, her relationship with the dentist and the motives of those involved in her prosecution.
I loved it - scandal, intrigue and greed in a well written historical fiction. The characters are well written, there are certainly a lot of sides to the young widow's character and people are not often who they seem to be. Even the historical background of life in 1850s America is well worth reading. Definitely recommended!
A wealthy dentist is murdered in his home in 1850s New York, and the coroner's suspicion falls on the young widow who lives in the upstairs rooms and keeps house for him. She is vilified by the press but she insists to her lawyer that she is innocent and that all the claims in the newspapers are lies. The novel explores the widow's character, her relationship with the dentist and the motives of those involved in her prosecution.
I loved it - scandal, intrigue and greed in a well written historical fiction. The characters are well written, there are certainly a lot of sides to the young widow's character and people are not often who they seem to be. Even the historical background of life in 1850s America is well worth reading. Definitely recommended!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This novel is based upon a real life case from 1857 when the author came across an old newspaper sketch depicting a NY townhouse laid siege by reporters after the brutal murder of the owner in his very own bedroom.
The author paints a fine picture of life in New York in the late 1850's, of societal values, of racial tensions and slavery, of the divisions of the North and good ol' South and perhaps most strikingly, the geographical lay of the land when one could escape to north of 16th St and find nothing but farmlands and fields. The media circus around the case infuses the story and you get a real sense of the suffocating intensity being suffered by the characters in the spotlight.
Its only flaw is from having a range of main characters who aren't given quite enough back story to be as fully fleshed out as the New York City circa 1857 is around them. Emma Cunningham, at the centre of the investigation, fares the best and is by the far the most rounded character here.
Nonetheless it is a very good read and benefits greatly from a final piece by the author explaining the origins of the the story and what was real and what is fiction. It is a nice touch and all books on based factual events should have similar.
It is a fine atmospheric piece and any fans of either historic novels or mysteries will undoubtedly enjoy this.
The author paints a fine picture of life in New York in the late 1850's, of societal values, of racial tensions and slavery, of the divisions of the North and good ol' South and perhaps most strikingly, the geographical lay of the land when one could escape to north of 16th St and find nothing but farmlands and fields. The media circus around the case infuses the story and you get a real sense of the suffocating intensity being suffered by the characters in the spotlight.
Its only flaw is from having a range of main characters who aren't given quite enough back story to be as fully fleshed out as the New York City circa 1857 is around them. Emma Cunningham, at the centre of the investigation, fares the best and is by the far the most rounded character here.
Nonetheless it is a very good read and benefits greatly from a final piece by the author explaining the origins of the the story and what was real and what is fiction. It is a nice touch and all books on based factual events should have similar.
It is a fine atmospheric piece and any fans of either historic novels or mysteries will undoubtedly enjoy this.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is a fictionalised account of the murder of Dr Burdell, a dentist, who was brutally murdered in his own home in New York in 1857 and the subsequent trial in which his housekeeper/mistress was the defendant--and acquitted.
Horan has created a plausible solution from the available facts. But this novel is far, far more than a historical whodunit. Anyone who knows New York as it is now cannot fail to be captivated by the city as it was then and Horan is brilliant at conjuring both its squalor and its delights; the foetid docks, the heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter, the poverty, the dope-dens as well as its high-class restaurants, the blossoming apple trees, the busy streets, the bird-filled creeks and marshes of the shoreline where Indians once collected shells and revered the memory of their ancestors. New York is a city on the verge of greatness, although it is riddled with corruption and tainted by the slave-trade which is still booming in the South and supported and encouraged in some quarters of the city. This is America on the brink of Civil War and nothing will be the same again.
But it is in the portrayal of Emma Cunningham that this novel triumphs for me. Horan invents her as a woman, both naive and calculating, whose personal ambitions and those for her daughters collide with municipal corruption, politics and greed. When she loses her grip on reality through drugs, we are never certain whether to condemn or pity her.
I look forward to more fiction of this calibre from Ellen Horan. Highly recommended.
Horan has created a plausible solution from the available facts. But this novel is far, far more than a historical whodunit. Anyone who knows New York as it is now cannot fail to be captivated by the city as it was then and Horan is brilliant at conjuring both its squalor and its delights; the foetid docks, the heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter, the poverty, the dope-dens as well as its high-class restaurants, the blossoming apple trees, the busy streets, the bird-filled creeks and marshes of the shoreline where Indians once collected shells and revered the memory of their ancestors. New York is a city on the verge of greatness, although it is riddled with corruption and tainted by the slave-trade which is still booming in the South and supported and encouraged in some quarters of the city. This is America on the brink of Civil War and nothing will be the same again.
But it is in the portrayal of Emma Cunningham that this novel triumphs for me. Horan invents her as a woman, both naive and calculating, whose personal ambitions and those for her daughters collide with municipal corruption, politics and greed. When she loses her grip on reality through drugs, we are never certain whether to condemn or pity her.
I look forward to more fiction of this calibre from Ellen Horan. Highly recommended.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great Read ....
New York 1857, and Doctor Harvey Burdell is found murdered in his own home at 31, Bond Street.The prime suspect is his housekeeper Emma Cunningham, but Emma has no alibi, and is... Read more
Published 5 months ago by jaffareadstoo
A good read on a few fronts
I very much enjoyed this book as a mystery story, courtroom drama and historical novel. It is well written and although the plot moves back and forth in time and between different... Read more
Published 6 months ago by stillarobin
31 Bond St
This book's blurb says it's like Mr. Whicher and it is. Is ok for holiday read or if you off work sick and fed up with daytime TV. Not groundbreaking, but passes the time.
Published 8 months ago by C. E. Thompson
Effective twists, plenty of suspense and a dash of tragedy; an...
First Sentence: For a boy who watched boats, his room was the perfect perch.
The brutal murder of well-to-do dentist, Dr. Read more
The brutal murder of well-to-do dentist, Dr. Read more
Published 10 months ago by L. J. Roberts
Really hard work...
Im sure that had I been able to complete this novel it would have received just 1* but since I have struggled for weeks and weeks to find a spark of interesting narrative or a... Read more
Published 18 months ago by LittleReader
keep on going
This book is solid enough, it started slow and then i found myself gripped before it loosened itself again and then got good towards the end, there probably isnt a great wow factor... Read more
Published 19 months ago by sean paul mccann
It kept me entertained
31 Bond Street is a murder mystery based on a real life murder case from New York in 1857. It is only based on those events rather than being a factual retelling, but the author... Read more
Published 20 months ago by cbrynr
A good read
I enjoyed this fact-based novel set in pre-Civil War New York, dealing with the mysterious murder of wealthy dentist Dr. Harvey Burdell, a famous case at the time. Read more
Published 20 months ago by George Rodger
Dull reading
While this book was far from the dullest book I ever read. It was dull enough, that I really had to fight to get through the novel. Read more
Published 21 months ago by C. Y. Davidson
a great read
A full 5 stars.
This book is based on fact, which adds to the essence of the story, well written and enough suspense to keep the pages turning. Read more
This book is based on fact, which adds to the essence of the story, well written and enough suspense to keep the pages turning. Read more
Published 21 months ago by L. mckay
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
