The Wicked Boy
The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale
In the summer of 1895, thirteen-year-old Robert Coombes murdered his mother, Emily, with casual coldness. His younger brother, Nattie, conspired with him, apparently aware of his brother's intentions. After executing their plan, they went about their usual daily lives, while their mother's body began to decompose and rot in a locked upstairs bedroom. Only when relatives began to question Emily's whereabouts, and an unbearable stench permeated the home, was the gruesome scene discovered.
In this true, incredibly well-researched novel, the author examines the lives of the brothers at home and in school before the crime. With a father often absent at sea, the boys appeared to have a love/ hate relationship with their mother. Nattie often followed the lead of his older brother, blindly succumbing to the great influence his sibling had over him. Robert was a peculiar, highly intelligent boy, prone to painful, persistent headaches. He was obsessed with "penny dreadfuls" (small, pocket books, popular during that period ) that encouraged adventure and glorified crime. They spoke to the wanderlust within him.
The remainder of the book focuses on Robert's trial, Nattie's plea bargain, and the role a man by the name of John Fox played in the days following the murder. He was an older, somewhat feeble-minded dock worker whom Robert befriended and invited to stay at the family home, even with a decaying body close at hand.
Beyond the murder itself, this book sheds light on the social mores of England during the late 1800s. It's enlightening to learn how patients with psychological problems were diagnosed and treated during those years. Pages of photographs are intermittently added to enhance the story, as are the interviews with acquaintances and experts that share theories behind the perpetrator of this violent deed.
I encourage reading the epilogue at the end of the novel. The subsequent outcome of Robert's trial and life thereafter will surprise and mystify you.
The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate SummerscaleIn the summer of 1895, thirteen-year-old Robert Coombes murdered his mother, Emily, with casual coldness. His younger brother, Nattie, conspired with him, apparently aware of his brother's intentions. After executing their plan, they went about their usual daily lives, while their mother's body began to decompose and rot in a locked upstairs bedroom. Only when relatives began to question Emily's whereabouts, and an unbearable stench permeated the home, was the gruesome scene discovered.
In this true, incredibly well-researched novel, the author examines the lives of the brothers at home and in school before the crime. With a father often absent at sea, the boys appeared to have a love/ hate relationship with their mother. Nattie often followed the lead of his older brother, blindly succumbing to the great influence his sibling had over him. Robert was a peculiar, highly intelligent boy, prone to painful, persistent headaches. He was obsessed with "penny dreadfuls" (small, pocket books, popular during that period ) that encouraged adventure and glorified crime. They spoke to the wanderlust within him.
The remainder of the book focuses on Robert's trial, Nattie's plea bargain, and the role a man by the name of John Fox played in the days following the murder. He was an older, somewhat feeble-minded dock worker whom Robert befriended and invited to stay at the family home, even with a decaying body close at hand.
Beyond the murder itself, this book sheds light on the social mores of England during the late 1800s. It's enlightening to learn how patients with psychological problems were diagnosed and treated during those years. Pages of photographs are intermittently added to enhance the story, as are the interviews with acquaintances and experts that share theories behind the perpetrator of this violent deed.
I encourage reading the epilogue at the end of the novel. The subsequent outcome of Robert's trial and life thereafter will surprise and mystify you.
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