Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis By Alexis Coe

Alexis Coe

This is the best book I've ever written!

Robin (Saturndoo)

UGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! When I saw this book I was so excited and very interested in it. Boy, what a BIG disappointment it was. The topic was very interesting but the author did a piss poor job in execution. She would have done a better job in writing it as a fiction piece. There were lots of mistakes/errors throughout the book which were very distracting. Being a Tennessean,the biggest one was the multiple references of Memphis being in East TN. When was Memphis moved from West TN to East TN? With that being said, it makes me wonder how well the topic was actually researched and how valid the rest of the information really is.

All in all, I felt like I was reading a High School student's research paper, with terrible footnotes. The illustrations were a nice inclusion as were the letters if only they weren't so hard to read on an e-reader. Interesting topic, nice illustrations, poor writing and terrible footnotes which disqualifies it as a book I would recommend. Do yourself a favor,skip this book and research Alice and Freda's story on your own.

Taryn

Alexis Coe once worked as a research curator at the New York Public Library, and she shows off her skills to great effect in her first published volume of nonfiction. Alice + Freda Forever details the murder of Freda Ward by her former lover and fiancee Alice Mitchell, but Coe includes much more than just the narrative. Woven throughout the text are letters between the two teenage girls, excerpts from news articles about the case, and best of all, lovely illustrations by Sally Klann. The book reads like a fabulous mashup of history, sociology, and art—plus it's a damn compelling story.

Freda's murder made a big splash in the national news, but not because of her gruesome death. People in 1892 were fascinated and puzzled by the fact that two women had planned to marry. No one knew how to talk about homosexuality; the papers and the courts only talked around the issue. Alice's plan was to pass as a man and support herself and Freda, but when their romantic letters were discovered by Freda's family, the two were forbidden to see each other again. Freda, an incurable flirt, accepted the loss of their relationship with equanimity. Alice, on the other hand, was incensed that Freda could abandon their love so easily, and with her father's razor in her pocket, set out to confront her former lover once and for all.

Coe does an excellent job of illustrating what it must have felt like for the girls, especially Alice, to be who they were in the time that they lived. These are the kinds of histories I find myself most interested in: stories of individuals who were “other” in some way, and what their lives and experiences were like. We need more books like this one on our shelves and in our libraries! It shouldn't be such a novelty to encounter a work of historical nonfiction that centers around someone other than dead white male politicians.

More book recommendations by me at
www.readingwithhippos.com

Melissa

april 2015 bookclub

I really don't understand how a story so scandalous, so juicy, could possibly bore me to sleep five nights in a row. Really. True story Victorian lesbian murder mystery lacked any sort of excitement beyond hints that Alice and Freda ventured beyond intimate bosom friendships common among women during this era.
I also don't understand the new trend in foregoing editing in nonfiction narratives. No matter how many times the author makes this assertion, Memphis is not and will never be in East Tennessee. As one might note from all of the reviews from Tennesseans, location matters. Fact checking is fairly easy.
I will grant that Coe did a lot of research and really did well utilizing primary sources, but I feel that her narrative was, well, lacking. Even from a feminist historical perspective, Coe really glosses over so much, and approaches her subject not from an historical perspective, but rather from our contemporary gender understandings. The newspapers' coverage was biased against women- imagine! There was much corruption (nothing much has changed in my fair city, sadly)! They accused a the women of insanity! The tone was breathless, the content lacking, and at the end of the day, as a Southern woman, all I can say is "bless their hearts".

Steph

A fascinating study of the 1892 murder of Freda Ward by her lover Alice Mitchell, this book is most interesting in its account of public responses to a lesbian relationship. Alice and Freda aren’t quite a shining example of a lesbian couple in history, because of the murder that ended their relationship - but this book is an interesting platform for recognizing the lgbt+ people in our history. Certainly the majority of couples did not end their relationship with a murder, and thus were unrecognized or forgotten. The violent nature of this case is the reason that history remembers Alice and Freda at all.

As in any history book, some parts of Alice + Freda Forever are more interesting than others. The middle is a bit slow, there are lengthy passages about the details of the trail. One of my favorite parts is a short discussion of intersectionality, which mentions that a group of innocent black men briefly occupied the same prison as Alice, and that Ida B. Wells was also facing persecution for her anti-racism work during these years. Coe places this within the context of construction of the U.S. national identity, and questions of race and gender and morality.

That is something that really intrigues me, but there are a lot of other brief discussions that are vaguely related to Alice and Freda’s case, which might capture your interest. And Alice + Freda Forever isn’t purely academic - for a historical study, it is written in a very engaging style, which I enjoyed. It’s amusing and it’s sad - there’s some poking fun at the community’s closed-minded notions of gender, and the ending is very emotional. The textual narration is also accompanied by some beautiful illustrations, which add a lot to the story.

I really recommend Alice + Freda Forever to people who are interested in an accessible account of a sad case in lgbt+ history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

dianne b.

This book sounded so juicy that i ordered a pre-release copy. i can't, then, really complain about the not-yet-ironed-out details like COMPLETELY f**ed up footnotes, which, for a nerd like me, is crazy-making.

The part about very close, affectionate girlfriends in the late 19th C - ostensibly, kind of a practice, a trial run for boyfriends - was interesting; and probably lead to a lot more premarital sex than was obvious - something i'll keep an eye out for in writing of that era from now on.

The story is compelling, and desperately sad. Unusual because Alice acts so male - right down to the, everyday in real life, violence based on "if i can't have you, nobody will". Domestic violence is common, the leading cause of death in women (in the USA) of childbearing age is being murdered by a husband or lover. But "girl kills girl" is unusual, especially when they openly admit being homosexual (suffering from "erotomania" - a terrible Victorian disease with symptoms as severe as sexual desire (abnormal in women, of course) nosebleeds, which as we all know is "vicarious menstruation", and homosexuality, which, standing alone, is grounds for being declared insane. In 1892. And, unfortunately, for many more decades.

The writing is perfunctory, the reconstruction of conversations could have been much more interesting - but she tried not to insert fiction - which is admirable. The illustrations are EXCELLENT and i think the final version will contain more photos or drawings - which will be an improvement.

The writing is a 2, the illustrations, a 4.

Susanna Sturgis

I'd give this book 3.5 stars if I could but went for 4 because Alexis Coe has done readers, especially feminist readers and anyone interested in women's studies, a service by recalling this case to our attention. Lizzie Borden (most probably) murdered her father and stepmother later the same year, 1892. Her case remains notorious to this day, but Alice Mitchell's murder of her ex-girlfriend, Freda Ward, has disappeared from sight, although it attracted nationwide press coverage at the time.

Coe's great contribution is her extensive research into newspaper archives and court records. Not surprisingly, the witnesses and commentators express almost unanimous astonishment, not just at Alice's very public act, but at the mere idea that one young woman intended to elope with another. What's missing here is the voices of those who might have been able to put the tragedy in a broader context. Henry James's The Bostonians appeared in 1886; the notion of women setting up housekeeping together (though not as "man and wife") wasn't unknown, though it may not have reached Memphis.

The national news coverage must have reached the likes of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Victoria Woodhull, Tennessee Claflin, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, among others -- women who, in various ways, were not shocked when women didn't conform to patriarchal norms. Did any of them comment on the case? True, this represents an ambitious research project in itself, and not one that Alice + Freda Forever could be expected to undertake, but an acknowledgment that other perspectives were out there would have been appreciated.

I just turned in a more detailed discussion of the book to the Women's Review of Books. It'll run in either the May/June or July/August issue. Meanwhile, I do recommend Alice + Freda Forever, though I'd suggest reading it in conjunction with Ann Jones's excellent Women Who Kill, first published in 1980 but released with a lengthy new introduction in 2009. Jones doesn't treat the Alice Mitchell case, but boy, would I love to hear her take on it.

Jillyn

Four and a half stars.

---

I was really intrigued when Zest Books invited me to read this title. Alice + Freda Forever promised to hit all of the buttons of my literary interests: young love, LGBT themes, history, and murder. This book definitely delivered, and made for a book that I couldn't put down.

The great thing about this book is that it seems to be really, really well researched. I'll be the first one to admit to you that I had never even heard of this murder until I came across this book. Coe includes historical settings, background information, family information, and even hand-written letters in this book, making it feel authentic and accurate. It's clear that history and representation was the forefront of this book, and I think that's great. I learned a lot, without it being so preachy that it seems like a text book. Coe managed to make fact read like gripping fiction, and it really worked for me.

I also really liked that this book was full of illustrations. It was a nice touch and helped me more easily visualize what was going on. Plus, if you take off the sleeve on the hardcover edition, there's an illustration embossed on the book itself. I think that was a really pretty, nice detail that I wouldn't have thought about.

And then of course, there's the story itself. It's fascinating. It's disturbing and creepy and morbid but you can't help but to keep reading, and even sympathizing with the characters in this book. I started out thinking "who could possibly commit such a crime against the one they love?" but the more I kept reading into their personal stories, the more I started to get it. That's another part of what makes this tale so disturbing, it seems so... Normal. Relatable almost, as strange as that is to say about a murder. I was sucked in from the first page, and thanks to the great writing and good pacing, I devoured this book.

I'd recommend Alice + Freda Forever to anyone looking for a teenage history story, a murder case, or LGBT history. Thank you so much to Zest Books who provided me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This review can also be found on my blog,
Bitches n Prose.

Meave

I've had the privilege of working with Alexis a little bit, and I met her in person once, so I'm of course biased. That said, this book is pretty fantastic.

As an introduction to Alice and Freda's story, and as an overview of contemporary social mores, politics, racism, classism, and sexism, it's solid. Alexis presents fairly complicated subjects neatly and well, and paints a vivid picture of the murder and its aftermath.

Still, I finished the book with lots of questions: What happened to Lillie? What exactly was Alice's testimony? How did Freda's family react to the verdict? It's a compact book that fits a lot of information in under 200 pages, but I really want to know more now, and it doesn't seem like there's really any comparable sources on what was once the most capitvating subject in the country.

(An aside: I don't know how exactly it will look in its final version, but in my copy, the handwritten letters were, while an interesting touch, were also a bit hard to read. Maybe it's my awful vision, but I feel like if it had been set just a little bigger, switching from printed typeface to cursive would've flowed a little more smoothly; as it stands now, it's a bit jarring. Though, again, this could just be a me problem. On the other hand, the illustrations and handwriting do create a level of intimacy with the characters that reprints don't.)

Sarah

Dear author or publisher: Please, please fix the geographical errors in this book! Memphis is in West Tennessee NOT East Tennessee. Page 25: "In Memphis, 'chumming' was the regional term for intimate female relationships, but it was by no means particular to Eastern Tennessee."

Page 68: "By eight o'clock that evening, George returned with two of the most prominent, expensive attorneys in Eastern Tennessee."

Page 79: "Still, in their efforts to create an airtight case, Gantt and Wright scoured Eastern Tennessee. . . ."

Page 157: [At the trial in Memphis] "He did, however, note there were many patients in his asylum, the Eastern State Hospital for the Insane in nearby Knoxville, Tennessee, who appeared rational on most subjects." Knoxville is not nearby Memphis by any stretch of the imagination.

I applaud the author for taking up this case. She goes to great efforts to explain the context of the case within 1890s Memphis in terms of how that society was different from now. The book is written for a young adult audience. I loved the illustrations. The book brought back some memories of my hometown--beautiful Elmwood Cemetery, and the cobblestones of the Mississippi Riverbank, where the crime was perpetrated in public in broad daylight! Definitely read this book if the subject is interesting to you.

Michelle

From the historical vaults of true-crime and LGBT history: "Alice and Freda Forever". This sensational murder trial took place near the turn of the 19th century, as the totally fascinated public attention grew in the case, people were perplexed how this shocking crime could have happened. Even more surprising were the conclusions of the experts, a reflection of societal understanding of same sex love/attraction (commonly known as "inversion"); that was believed to cause the insanity leading to this terrible violent murder.

Alice Mitchell 19, and Freda Ward 17, became acquainted at the Higgins School for Girls in Memphis, TN. They were quickly inseparable, very loving and affectionate with one another, which was considered common and acceptable at the time. Freda enjoyed and encouraged the attention of both Alice and a few young men. This distressed Alice greatly as she became intensly jealous, fixated, and obsessed over Freda. The pair exchanged notes and love letters throughout their relationship, which were reproduced to a degree in the book. Freda promised to marry Alice and accepted an engagement ring from her. It was impossible to foresee the tragedy of January 25, 1892, where Alice slashed Freda's throat with her father's razor, over Freda's failure to honor their engagement/marriage pact. Freda's concerned family had forbidden her to see Alice again. Alice warned Freda their engagement was binding without exception: if Alice couldn't be with Freda, no one else would be with her either.

The public sympathy for Alice was surprising, no one wanted her executed for Freda's murder. This was at a time when prisoners were drug out of the local jail and hung by vigilante justice. The judge at the trial was Julius Du Bose, (a probable founding member of the area Ku Klux Klan), warned that there would be order in the court, and no hysteria from female observers tolerated. Female journalists kept an extremely low profile. Ida B. Wells, a 29 year old journalist was forced to relocate to New York where she became a well known outspoken advocate/activist for women's rights. The horrific "People's Grocery Lynching" also occurred during this time period.
Coe illustrated how Alice's family wealth was able to influence both expert and public opinion, which spared Alice's life, and allowed her to be committed to the Bolivar Insane Asylum, Bolivar, TN. in July of 1892. There were mysterious circumstances surrounding Alice's early death at the state asylum, she was 25.

This book is well researched and thoughtfully written, especially the psychological theories and conclusions of expert testimony. There were several nicely done pictorial illustrations.
Alexis Coe is a columnist, blogger, and contributing feature writer for several notable publications. Coe has a MA in American History, she resides in San Francisco, CA. This is her first book.

mad mags

2.5 stars. DNF at 25%.

As a fan of both true crime novels and cultural criticism, I fully expected to fall in love with Alice + Freda Forever. Unfortunately, I seem to be among the minority of readers who came away disappointed. I found myself skimming at 10%, and finally threw in the towel at 25%. (To be fair, this is nearly halfway through the main portion of the text; the appendix, footnotes, and assorted front and back matter comprise roughly 40% of the book.)

While the story is indeed an interesting one, the writing just didn't capture my attention. Perhaps it's because the tale is better suited to a long-form article as opposed to a full-length book; or maybe it's because the author steered clear of dramatizing the story. Whatever the case, I found the writing rather dull and uninspired, especially given the subject matter (an illicit, violent, and ultimately doomed relationship characterized by stalking and threats and culminating in murder; sexism, racism, and homophobia; a justice system that is anything but; the institutionalization of women for failing to properly perform their gender; etc.). It had the feel of a college paper - more potential than polish.

To make matters worse, the illustrations are impossible to read on a Kindle. And by "illustrations" I don't just mean maps and sketches, but the artist's rendering of letters and court documents - items one must read as part of the story. Clearly this isn't the fault of the author, but it would have been handy to have a text version for easy readability, perhaps cross-referenced with the illustrations for quick navigation (in a manner similar to that of footnotes). The appendix includes a few letters, but a quick search for certain phrases found in the illustrated letters turned up zero results. Meh.

I feel kind of bad giving Alice + Freda Forever such a low rating, especially since a) I think the idea of a "curated book" is hella cool and b) I quite appreciate the social justice elements embedded within the story. I'll just chalk it up to a case of "good idea, poor execution." Bummer.

www.easyvegan.info/2015/02/16/alice-f...

Philitsa

Throughout history, people have been using love as an excuse for being unbalanced. This is a real-life example of one of those people.

My library's suggestion algorithm said I should read this book, even though I had never checked out a history, LGBT, or true crime book before. Pretty smart algorithm, because I loved this book! I recommended it to a bunch of people without even finishing it.

This is an amazing story, and the author did a fantastic job telling it. Using "artifacts" from that time period - letters, newspaper articles - and illustrations made for the book, Coe paints a dramatic picture of love gone horribly wrong. Side note: I read this on my Kindle, and some of the letters and articles were a little too faint to read. Luckily, Coe often gave a synopsis of the text immediately following it.

What I found most fascinating about the story was that Alice was considered insane because she loved another woman enough to want to marry her. She wasn't considered insane because she murdered someone in cold blood in broad daylight. From the book: "But to Americans in 1892, her insistence on loving and wishing to marry and support a woman were, in and of themselves, clear signs of lunacy, and there was no shortage of physicians willing to corroborate this assumption."

The book was highly immersive, giving a full view into what the daily life and reaction from the public was. Remember when you had to send letters to people to communicate over long distances? Or when you couldn't just get in contact with people immediately and had to coordinate days and weeks in advance? Or when newspaper articles were written by people that were physically near the events that occurred? What a difference 120 years makes!

How is this story not a movie already? It's got all the markings of a blockbuster!

Kelly Hager

This book is absolutely heartbreaking. It's based on a true story, but one that I had never heard.

In the late 1800s, two women were in love. Or at least one of them was. And they were engaged to be married. Except it was the late 1800s and they were two women. So things didn't go well when their families found out and they stopped talking, as their families demanded. And then one of them ended up dead by the other one's hand.

There are about a billion different ways this all could have been prevented, not the least of which is by one person (really, almost anyone who knew them) being aware of just how deep their friendship was and how unhinged Alice was at being denied access to Freda and stepping in to keep them separated.

While Alice's story breaks my heart, she is not the hero of this story. This story doesn't have a hero but it has a ton of victims.

This book is so compelling and, while it's incredibly short, it made me feel like I knew Alice and Freda. A lot of research was obviously done, and it helps that things were included (love letters, court documents, etc).

This is an amazing book. Highly recommended.

Sara

I became interested in this case after hearing that Jennifer Kent was helming the film. Sadly, while the source material is interesting, this book spends an awful lot of time repeating the obvious: "In the 1890s... Same sex love and African American men and women were cogent threats to the rigid hierarchy of race and gender" and providing little as far as interesting historical context or analysis. The insertion of contemporary language and understandings of gender confuse rather than clarify (I doubt mental hospitals in the 1890s separated their inmates by gender identity); Coe doesn't intend it to sound that way, but it does. She slaps in a Foucault quote here and there--"physicians who sought to define reason silenced 'unreason'"--but when even he's repeating the obvious, you've got a problem. There is nothing new or particularly insightful here. Murder and meh in Memphis. Wait for the film.

vicky.

ARC by NetGalley

In 1892 America was shocked with a crime comitted by a young girl. But the most shocking thing of all was her motivation; Alice planed to pass as a man to marry Freda. And when they were discovered, she killed her fiancé.

Like most of us, I didn't knew about this murder. For years it went unnoticed until the late 90's when same love was declared natural and not a disease.

And even if they had been allowed to marry, their relationship wouldn't have last. Freda loved flirting and admitted to love not only Alice, but also other men, while Alice was extremely possessive and jealous.

A really interesting book -which also includes original letters and graphics!- with a story that should be more known.

Amanda Mae

I had not heard of this incident before, and was super intrigued to learn about it and that there was a creative non-fiction book about it. It's a story of same-sex love in late 1800's American South that includes a murder. Fascinating. The author said that this became her hobby topic for awhile, and it is well researched. A few things get dragged out, but otherwise it was a fairly fast-paced story.

I do think there are plenty of other areas to investigate with these two main characters, but we probably won't ever be able to because lots of things get lost or distorted in over 100 years. But this whole story is sad, fascinating, and interesting to recall.

Lady ♥ Belleza

This book got three stars, for me, three stars is a decent rating, it means I liked it, I just don't know if I can recommend it.

There is virtually no investigation, the murder was witnessed and the perp arrested that same day. There is also almost no trial covered.

The ending of this whole case is tragic. There are no easy answers.

Maria

Loved this book. I've been talking about it to everyone for a week.

Hanna Anderson

3.5 stars
This book doesn’t have phenomenal reviews and it’s not a phenomenal book but I do think it’s worth reading!!!!
Okay, admittedly, I don’t know much about geography so I fully had no idea that Memphis was not in eastern Tennessee, and that does feel pretty yikes that such a big, obvious, indisputable fact was repeatedly messed up. And it definitely does raise the question of what else is factually untrue. But the thing is I doubt anyone is really reading this book in order to learn every single perfectly acute, accurate detail about this murder. I think most of us, which was the case for me, picked up this book because it’s about a part of queer American history I had never heard about. And it helped me learn about broader historical themes— and gave me some new topics I’d like to learn more about because, hey guess what I realize this book isn’t a binding, explicitly accurate story that I should blind trust— like female “chumming” in the 1800s or the historical conflation of female sexuality and insanity or whatever.

Honestly, I thought the writing was really good! Sure she maybe said that Memphis is in East Tennessee, but her tone and format is very accessible and readable, and she doesn’t superfluously overdramatize or fictionalize dialogue which is something I find frustrating in a lot of true crime books.

And it was really just so fascinating to find out about how, in the words of Orla McCool of Derry, Ireland “lesbians are real!” To learn about a public same-sex relationship occurring in the nineteenth century is really cool! This is a little known piece of history and I’m really glad someone wrote this book, okay!!!

Jamie Canaves

I kind of prefer true crime that takes a look at old crimes like this because they don’t feel sensationalized and they have an added historical element. In this case, it also has the added bonus of line drawing illustrations and the lovers’ letters (although the letters were not easy to read on a Paperwhite-style ereader). If the crime had taken place today, it would be viewed most likely as a jealous and obsessed woman who murdered her fiancee´ when she broke things off–or honestly, probably wouldn’t have happened– but being that it happened in Tennessee in 1892 when the term lesbian wasn’t even in use, there are a lot of things at play. Women’s behavior at the time (including girls practicing relationships for men amongst themselves) along with the look at journalist, court proceedings, racism, homophobia, and “insanity” made this a really interesting read.

--from
Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: 1800s True Crime, and More Mysteries!

http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...

arwen

WHERE IS THE MOVIE

Liralen

The premise: In 1892, a young woman stood trial, having murdered her female lover. Alice had planned to masquerade as a man to marry Freda—but, when Freda acquiesced to her family's intervention, Alice killed Freda instead.

The twist: The trial was not about the murder. It was a trial to determine whether Alice was competent to stand trial for murder—to determine whether, as the defense claimed, her preference for women made her insane. Nobody questioned that Alice had committed the murder.

The book: Coe digs deep into historical records of the case, drawing on letters and news reports and other research. She attempts to place the trial, and the issues in question, in a historical context and balance it somewhat against a contemporary understanding of things. Illustrations done for the book make it an even more accessible read—although this was in the library's adult nonfiction section, I'd put it in YA; it's more advanced but reminds me, actually, of
The Lizzie Borden Trial, which I read for class when I was ten or eleven. (I was convinced she was guilty and drew, in my planner, a picture of Lizzie wielding an axe; my teacher gave one of those mouth-twists that suggested she was not impressed.)

The other twist: This wasn't explored, actually, and I wish it had been. Alice's trial focused extremely heavily on her sexuality and whether or not that made her insane. I would have loved to see more contemporary analysis. It's safe to say that we wouldn't have quite the same understanding now—but I also think lawyers now would still have a go at an insanity plea. Multiple previous suicide attempts? Threats of murder well before the actual act? Whether or not that qualifies her as insane (and I wouldn't be the one to say), I imagine that it would be very easy to find a psychiatrist willing to diagnose her as having bipolar disorder, or borderline personality disorder, or even depression. (Not that she wanted for diagnoses then...) On the one hand, I'm not sure it matters—but on the other hand, it seems pretty clear that there was something that made Alice so determined, reckless, etc.

Also interesting to me is how thin their plan was. We don't learn that much of Freda, honestly—I imagine solid information about her was even more difficult to come by—but it sounds as though she was in many ways quite naïve...although Alice might have been too. What kind of work did she expect to find to support them? What on earth were they thinking, to plan to ask a minister who knew Freda's family well to marry them? Did Alice even have men's clothing to wear? It makes me wonder if the thinness of the plan added to a sense of adventure/fiction on Freda's part.

Anyway, it's intriguing and easy to read.

Laura

3.5 stars.

A short read about a remarkable case at the end of the 19th century in Memphis. Alice & Freda were teenaged girls who had pledged - and planned - to marry & make a life together. Alice held this promise close; Freda was not as committed, & entertained offers of engagement from male suitors. This betrayal drove Alice to murder Freda in broad daylight, in plain sight of multiple witnesses, with no regard for the consequences. Alexis Coe's examination of this well-publicized trial brings to light many things not even imaginable to our modern society.

She touches on the treatment of women in this book, & this is well-trod territory: women were judged as hysterical, as needing to be protected from certain topics, blamed for things men were praised for, not allowed to fully participate as citizens, and the like.

What Coe brings forward is just how unheard of Alice & Freda's relationship was. There weren't even words for it: the word lesbian didn't enter the American lexicon for another 40 years. The idea that Alice would pose as a man to get a job and support her wife was so inconceivable to Memphis society that Alice could easily be seen as insane. What else could she be?

Without the words to define themselves, or examples to model themselves after, Coe poses some interesting existential questions about the two. How did they see themselves? How realistic were their plans? Clearly, Alice wanted to pursue their engagement at all costs, would take any risk. Freda kowtowed to pressure from her older sister to break ties with Alice, and by her last letter, it appears she was over whatever she felt for Alice. So what was this? Were they lovers thwarted by the narrowness of their society? Were they bored teenaged girls who happened upon a physical relationship and took it too far? Was Alice just an obsessive personality? Was she a lesbian who thought she met her true love & wouldn't give it up? Was Freda careless with Alice's affections? Had she truly returned them at one point? So much is left unanswered.

What's interesting to me is that we cannot answer most of these questions from our current perspective. And it's interesting to imagine how exciting these plans must have been for these girls: they were going to buck ALL social conventions & live their secret lives in plain sight. How thrilling it must have been for these young women to imagine something so outside of their constraints that their society didn't even have a word for it.

Regina

In 1892, Alice Mitchell was a heartbroken young woman. The woman she loved, Freda Ward, had broken off their engagement and was making it perfectly clear that she didn't want anything to do with her. Today, those sentences don't sound too remarkable. But in Victorian-era, post-Reconstruction, southern United States, however, there are serious issues with them. So much so, that they overshadowed Alice's next move, which was murdering her ex-fiance in cold blood, in the middle of a crowded Memphis street.

As much as I looked forward to reading it, I learned quickly on, that I'd severely underestimated this book.
Much like another favorite of mine,
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil , this story weaves seamlessly away from the scandal of the murder and into that of the people and climate of not only Memphis itself, but America as a whole. The idea that a young, white, woman from a middle-class family could commit such a heinous crime was one issue, but the idea that she could have not only loved another woman, but had the audacity to believe she could marry her, pose as a man, and build a home in the way that a man would, was what fueled the sensational headlines and led the defense attorneys to stand on an insanity plea. The book is sprinkled with bits of recreated pieces of primary source material, and stunning but simplistic art depicting the cast of interesting characters.

One gem of the book, was an unexpected journey into the racial climate of the environment, when Coe recounts a story of a lynching that takes place during the same time of Alice's imprisonment, and the concurrent timelines of Ida B. Wells' rise as a political activist that was hated and threatened merely for her ideas, while Alice stood trial for a murder that she actually committed, that the white men of their city did NOT want to see her hang for.

While Alice's choice to kill Freda in a fit of passion was outrageous, and much of the evidence does display a gross obsession, the book goes so far beyond that to showcase how the trial was so severely impacted by the same-sex aspect of the star-crossed love. I really enjoyed the book, and will definitely recommend it to someone who loves a good trial, great historical nonfiction, and a look at how far we've come in mental-health, gender expression, and sexuality.

A Reader's Heaven

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

This is a fascinating true story of a teenage murderess and the motives behind her actions.

In 1892, nineteen-year-old Alice Mitchell plans on extravagant measures to marry her 17-year-old fiancee Freda Ward. However, when their relationship is discovered, they are forbidden from seeing each other ever again.
Freda seems to adjust to this better than Alice. She cuts Alice off completely (much to Alice's heartbreak) - she continued to ignore Alice's letters and attempts at communication. Early the following year, Freda is found dead with her throat slashed. Alice is jailed and considered insane due to her "perversion." She dies later in an asylum in mysterious circumstances.

I absolutely loved this book for the most part. A fascinating tale that does its best to not embellish details for the sake of either sensationalism or bulking up the book. At around 200 pages, this was the perfect length to tell the story using the information that is available after more than 100 years.

The whole overarching story of the two girls themselves - young women who have an intimate relationship - is a fascinating study in humanity, even for such a long time ago. Alice's sisters thought she was "anxious" (a quaint term, indeed!) and her best friend Lillie either didn't know or just refused to see the truth. Her parents were totally against the relationship.

This book covers the overt sexism and classism that existed in Memphis at the time (and some would argue still exists in the world today) and was done very well. It is sad that a lot more isn't known about this case as it would be great to learn some of the other questions this book raised: What happened to Lillie? Alice's actual testimony would have been amazing to read. Also, Freda's family are pretty much missing in this book - especially when it came to the sentencing and death of Alice. So much more I would like to know...

Highly recommended!

Paul
ARH

Jess

Alice + Freda delves into the true story of a teenage murderess--her motives, her thoughts, her justification. I normally stray from non-fiction. It's not my type of thing. I read recreationally and nonfiction just doesn't give me that satisfaction. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this. I'd vaguely heard of the event in question, but never truly knew much of the detail behind it.

In 1892 things go awry for lovers, Alice and Freda. Society wasn't nearly as accepting as it is today. They're torn apart and separated and it goes south from there when Freda is found dead.

What this book does to perfection is the research. In the introduction, Coe explains how she got caught up in this story--how it became her hobby and how much research she put into it. And the research shows, let me tell you that.

At heart, this not only the study of a murder, but also of the responses that ensued from society. Memphis, in those days, wasn't a shining example of acceptance (nothing was). It was a traditionalist society that was not keen on accepting new values.

Overall, there were still a few pace issues. Some parts dragged whilst others were smooth sailing. Despite being nonfiction, this book is written in an engaging, interactive style which is heightened by the use of illustrations. I'm not normally one for pictures but in this instance, they were perfect.

Alice + Oliva is a fascinatingly sad case in history. It often goes unnoticed but is definitely an eye opener. If you've got some time and a penchant for history then I highly recommend picking this one up!

Many thanks to the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Bethany

I love history, and I love murders, scandals, and anything that has to do with the psyche of a person. This book was really thrilling how the Author/Historian played it out for you. Not only do you get the facts about the murder, but you see some intel inside the minds of all that were involved. Granted this was a short and sweet murder that was pretty straight forward; I still enjoyed it immensely.

Alexis Coe went through great details and did some phenomenal research to find more information about the society at the time, especially in the LGBT… with the lack there of one really. I mean I was truly fascinated by the story of these two lovers. I absolutely love the “handwritten” letters and the photos in the mix within the story. The mix of the two definitely gave more depth and insight to the way you’re reading the novel.

I really liked this, and I’m so glad that I got the chance to read it. Even though this is probably one of those books that I would look at, at the store; pick it up, and then read through it a few times before putting it back down. While this is one of those books that I would probably be iffy about actually buying… I definitely recommend it. Now that I HAVE read this novel, it’s most definitely a book that I would buy instead of just looking at it. The flashy cover draws you in, but the story itself… is absolutely fantastic.

Bailey

The book part of this is only about 55% of the ebook, which is how I finished this so fast (surprise!). This is a good history of a specific time and event, but, as is probably to be expected, is a little light on the details. The fact is that a lot of the history surrounding this event has been erased, or maybe never existed in the first place, and while I appreciate that Coe kept her editorializing to a minimum, it still left me wanting a little more.

That said, I'd never heard of Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward before someone told me about this book, and I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to learn about it. I do feel like it was interesting to read so near to when I read
The Paying Guests, and while the stories are very different, it certainly influenced my reading of this. I'll definitely be exploring this a little more in depth.

Anyway, I think this is great for what it is: a slim retelling of a serious same sex relationship in the Before Times, when people pretended this kind of thing didn't exist. It's very interesting and leaves a lot to the imagination, which honestly is not really a bad thing. Definitely recommend, if you're interested in this.

Title	:	Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis
Author	:	Alexis Coe
Rating	:
ISBN	:	1936976609
ISBN-10	:	9781936976607
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Hardcover
Number of Pages	:	223
Publication	:	First published October 7, 2014

Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis by Alexis Coe

Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis Reviews

Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis Reviews

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