| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 104.3

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 104.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Patricia Cline Cohen. The Murder of Helen Jewett: The Life and Death of a Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1998. Pp. viii, 432. $27.50.

Patricia Cline Cohen knows how to tell a good story. In this historical study she follows the convolutions of a sensational crime and the ensuing trial, revealing both the life of an extraordinary woman and the culture of early nineteenth-century New York City. 1

Helen Jewett, only twenty-three when she died in 1836, was a romantic—an avid reader of Byron's poetry—and had considerable literary talent herself. How this intelligent, refined young woman became a prostitute was part of the great mystery that kept New York—and much of the country—talking. Who killed her, by ax and fire, was the other question. Could it be the dandyish, young Richard Robinson, her most passionate client? Cohen deals with these questions by interpreting news articles, police reports, and personal letters between Jewett and Robinson. Throughout her study, she highlights the intrigue, even as she produces a well-documented, thoroughly researched piece of historical writing, including copious notes (but no bibliography). . . .

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