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Deadly Australian Women
Do women kill? Yes they do, but often for very different reasons to men…
Meet the women who have murdered – they’ve killed children, husbands, lovers, relatives and friends. They include the desperate, the poor, the abused, the sexually betrayed, and the downright callous. In some cases they were motivated by fear of society’s disapproval, in others they acted to save themselves from violence. Among their number were early backyard abortionists like Madame Olga and Madame Harper, poisoners like Maria Marek and Yvonne Fletcher, women who committed infanticide like Keli Lane, women who formed lovers pacts to murder their husbands and women whose troubled lives on the margins like transgendered Eugenia Falleni/Harry Crawford led them almost inevitably to crime.
In her first, best-selling book, Notorious Australian Women, author Kay Saunders profiled some of the country’s most scandalous women. Here she turns her eye to those who have broken one of society’s most cherished taboos and become both notorious and deadly....
Meet the women who have murdered – they’ve killed children, husbands, lovers, relatives and friends. They include the desperate, the poor, the abused, the sexually betrayed, and the downright callous. In some cases they were motivated by fear of society’s disapproval, in others they acted to save themselves from violence. Among their number were early backyard abortionists like Madame Olga and Madame Harper, poisoners like Maria Marek and Yvonne Fletcher, women who committed infanticide like Keli Lane, women who formed lovers pacts to murder their husbands and women whose troubled lives on the margins like transgendered Eugenia Falleni/Harry Crawford led them almost inevitably to crime.
In her first, best-selling book, Notorious Australian Women, author Kay Saunders profiled some of the country’s most scandalous women. Here she turns her eye to those who have broken one of society’s most cherished taboos and become both notorious and deadly....
359 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 8, 2020
A book of factual content ranging from unsettling and gruesome to downright tragic but it seems to me that the author's research hints at more to say than she really does. Donna Fitchett murdered her own children and this generic line made me wince "For the rest of his life, Father's Day would cause him (her husband) unimaginable pain and grief" and mentally impaired Fitchett was sentenced to thirty-four years imprisonment.
For emerging writers interested in dastardly deeds, from poisoners to baby farmers, Kay Saunders offers insight into recent and historical crimes. I've read "City of Orphans" a Catherine Jinks trilogy, and there is a baby farm business in the plot similar to the real John and Sarah Makin in 1890s Sydney. I like the bookcover but the contents is rather too text book for me, thus I am not in a favourable position to recommend it.
For emerging writers interested in dastardly deeds, from poisoners to baby farmers, Kay Saunders offers insight into recent and historical crimes. I've read "City of Orphans" a Catherine Jinks trilogy, and there is a baby farm business in the plot similar to the real John and Sarah Makin in 1890s Sydney. I like the bookcover but the contents is rather too text book for me, thus I am not in a favourable position to recommend it.
June 30, 2013
I love these true crime books where they detail information of a bygone era. Very interesting to read the punishments handed out and just how quickly justice was meted out!
June 22, 2018
I thought this book would make a nice companion to my other women and crime books, and it does just that and more. The author draws on the history of women who committed infanticide and baby-farming, performed abortions, and murdered by poisoning and other means, and organises these cases into the 19th and 20th centuries. A whole chapter is devoted to Eugenia Falleni and Kay Saunders recommends Suzanne Falkiner's splendid book on the subject which I have reviewed elsewhere. Saunders reveals how women who had transgressed the mores of the time were punished: mostly these women resorted to crime out of the desperation of poverty and as a result of provocation. The author is less sympathetic to 20th century women such as Keli Lane and Kathleen Folbigg although the public's stance remains as firmly against female criminals as ever.
The book is thoroughly researched, with the author drawing on legal documents as well as the media. Saunders provides comprehensive endnotes for the meta-curious to pursue for further information.
I would like to have given this book a higher rating but unfortunately too many errors let it down. For example, Ashfield Municipality does not include Paddington, Lane Cove Road is not in Wahroonga, and "She had four children, two of who died" deserves the red pen. Because the book draws on cases from other Australian states, there may be more geographical mistakes of which I am unaware. Errors in content detract from the credibility of a book such as this, and I expected more attention to detail from this author, an academic and historian, as well as from the editors at Harper Collins.
The book is thoroughly researched, with the author drawing on legal documents as well as the media. Saunders provides comprehensive endnotes for the meta-curious to pursue for further information.
I would like to have given this book a higher rating but unfortunately too many errors let it down. For example, Ashfield Municipality does not include Paddington, Lane Cove Road is not in Wahroonga, and "She had four children, two of who died" deserves the red pen. Because the book draws on cases from other Australian states, there may be more geographical mistakes of which I am unaware. Errors in content detract from the credibility of a book such as this, and I expected more attention to detail from this author, an academic and historian, as well as from the editors at Harper Collins.
August 6, 2019
This book was what I would call interesting ..... but not riveting!
It is a non-fiction work detailing murders committed by women in Australia.
It includes murder of husbands and also abortion .... as a reader living in an era when contraception is easy to get, my heart went out to the women who found themselves pregnant with no means to look after a child born out of wedlock.
Many murders were committed because the women found themselves in an abusive relationship. Crimes of passion were in the majority for sure.
As I said ... very interesting.
It is a non-fiction work detailing murders committed by women in Australia.
It includes murder of husbands and also abortion .... as a reader living in an era when contraception is easy to get, my heart went out to the women who found themselves pregnant with no means to look after a child born out of wedlock.
Many murders were committed because the women found themselves in an abusive relationship. Crimes of passion were in the majority for sure.
As I said ... very interesting.
July 20, 2019
3.5/5
Not only does Saunders lay out the ruthlessness of many women in 19th century and 20th century Australia. She also paints a picture of how harsh the life was for Australian women and how limited they were in their rights. So limited that they were pushed to murder those closest to them.
But also, there are the exceptions, women can be killers just like men and this book is just one piece of evidence to prove that.
Not only does Saunders lay out the ruthlessness of many women in 19th century and 20th century Australia. She also paints a picture of how harsh the life was for Australian women and how limited they were in their rights. So limited that they were pushed to murder those closest to them.
But also, there are the exceptions, women can be killers just like men and this book is just one piece of evidence to prove that.
October 15, 2017
Wow, a great read describing the history if Australia well. Having read more in depth books about some of the murderesses in this book I can see how it is a teaser for those with an interest in colonial Australia. A great history of modern and complicity from our beginnings!
September 1, 2016
If you are interested in writing and reading (true) crime stories featuring female killers, especially from a historical perspective, then there are few books that can better serve as a treasure trove of ideas and background materials than Deadly Australian Women. Authored by Kay Saunders and published in 2013, this is a collection of stories of those women “who have broken one of society’s most cherished taboos and become both notorious and deadly”.
The book surveys a great number of cases across Australia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries where women committed murders as lethal abortionists, “baby farmers”, baby and child killers, wicked stepmothers, poisoners, deadly lovers and manoeuvres, spouse/partner killers, and victims of domestic abuse who fight back. Each of these cases is well researched, with personal backgrounds of killers and victims as well as those of the judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers provided. Also covered are responses of families and communities, the society at large and, in some cases, colonial and state government officials, based on a careful study of archival records and media reports.
While it does not make a pleasant reading, Deadly Australian Women is a valuable book because Saunders, as a legal expert, provides extensive political, social and cultural settings of those British, American and Australian laws that safeguard women’s status and welfare in traditionally male-dominated societies. The birth and evolution of these laws represents each society’s constant and continuous attempt to catch up with the times. The triumphs and failures of these attempts are keenly observed in the often tragic stories of these female killers.
Saunders writes calmly and objectively as an academic and rarely judges those historical figures studied in this book. (Consequently, it is particularly satisfying when this reader reached the end of the book and saw the author criticising a judge’s remarks as “inflammatory” [p.314] and his instruction to the jury “completely incorrect” [p.320].) In her Introduction to Deadly Australian Women, Saunders provides a short profile of women killers that may be useful to contemporary writers and readers interested in crime:
"The notion of women’s essential goodness and innate nurturing capacity persists as a cultural image. Martha Clowers, in her entry on “Women Who Kill” in the Encyclopaedia of Crime and Punishment, concludes that “women and murder are [terms seen as] mutually exclusive. Females are expected to be victims, not victimisers”. Women commit far fewer murders, manslaughters and other unlawful killings than men. Their patterns also do not conform to the male model of the accidental “pub brawl” death, where the victim and the assailant are complete strangers. Women rarely kill strangers, historically or in the present day. They overwhelmingly kill intimates, and often within the direct family circle.
"Women who kill use firearms or fists far less frequently than men do. They are typically portrayed as stealthy killers, more likely to use poison within the domestic setting to achieve their deadly purpose. Plato suggested that, by nature, all women were given to secrecy and stealth. What he may have identified is a response to the powerlessness of women’s familial role, whether in fifth-century BCE or in twentieth-century Australia. As Melina Page Wilkins proposes: “[The female killer] is deceitful, nearly invisible to her would-be victims and the surrounding culture, and cloaked in the raiment of her gender.” Her invisibility in the home going about her domestic activities, her sheer ordinariness, often hides a darker reality." (p.6-7)
While no use of violence should be condoned – and there are certainly many violent and seemingly evil women discovered by Saunders – somehow it is such “powerlessness” and “invisibility” of women in this and other traditionally male-dominated societies that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, Deadly Australian Women as a book can help more writers, readers and critics, male and female alike, to understand the plight of those women in our past and current times who were victims themselves before taking drastic and deadly measures to change their lives.
The book surveys a great number of cases across Australia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries where women committed murders as lethal abortionists, “baby farmers”, baby and child killers, wicked stepmothers, poisoners, deadly lovers and manoeuvres, spouse/partner killers, and victims of domestic abuse who fight back. Each of these cases is well researched, with personal backgrounds of killers and victims as well as those of the judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers provided. Also covered are responses of families and communities, the society at large and, in some cases, colonial and state government officials, based on a careful study of archival records and media reports.
While it does not make a pleasant reading, Deadly Australian Women is a valuable book because Saunders, as a legal expert, provides extensive political, social and cultural settings of those British, American and Australian laws that safeguard women’s status and welfare in traditionally male-dominated societies. The birth and evolution of these laws represents each society’s constant and continuous attempt to catch up with the times. The triumphs and failures of these attempts are keenly observed in the often tragic stories of these female killers.
Saunders writes calmly and objectively as an academic and rarely judges those historical figures studied in this book. (Consequently, it is particularly satisfying when this reader reached the end of the book and saw the author criticising a judge’s remarks as “inflammatory” [p.314] and his instruction to the jury “completely incorrect” [p.320].) In her Introduction to Deadly Australian Women, Saunders provides a short profile of women killers that may be useful to contemporary writers and readers interested in crime:
"The notion of women’s essential goodness and innate nurturing capacity persists as a cultural image. Martha Clowers, in her entry on “Women Who Kill” in the Encyclopaedia of Crime and Punishment, concludes that “women and murder are [terms seen as] mutually exclusive. Females are expected to be victims, not victimisers”. Women commit far fewer murders, manslaughters and other unlawful killings than men. Their patterns also do not conform to the male model of the accidental “pub brawl” death, where the victim and the assailant are complete strangers. Women rarely kill strangers, historically or in the present day. They overwhelmingly kill intimates, and often within the direct family circle.
"Women who kill use firearms or fists far less frequently than men do. They are typically portrayed as stealthy killers, more likely to use poison within the domestic setting to achieve their deadly purpose. Plato suggested that, by nature, all women were given to secrecy and stealth. What he may have identified is a response to the powerlessness of women’s familial role, whether in fifth-century BCE or in twentieth-century Australia. As Melina Page Wilkins proposes: “[The female killer] is deceitful, nearly invisible to her would-be victims and the surrounding culture, and cloaked in the raiment of her gender.” Her invisibility in the home going about her domestic activities, her sheer ordinariness, often hides a darker reality." (p.6-7)
While no use of violence should be condoned – and there are certainly many violent and seemingly evil women discovered by Saunders – somehow it is such “powerlessness” and “invisibility” of women in this and other traditionally male-dominated societies that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, Deadly Australian Women as a book can help more writers, readers and critics, male and female alike, to understand the plight of those women in our past and current times who were victims themselves before taking drastic and deadly measures to change their lives.
January 2, 2014
The book tells the stories of Australian women in the 19th and 20th centuries who have been convicted of murder. It explores how they killed, why they killed and at times, questions whether or not they were falsely accused. The book also explores the changing laws, welfare, society and attitudes to women that influenced the actions of the perpetrators. I found this particularly interesting as it was not just a story about the evil that one person can inflict on another but a wider social commentary. While not condoning their actions, it gave me a greater understanding of why they did what they did for example, some of the women that murdered their babies were often desolate, starving and abandoned by their baby's father before taking the actions that they did. They did not have the same rights or access to welfare and were often forced into almost desperate situations. These cases were sad to read. There were also some who were convicted for murder though the evidence wasn't entirely clear or definitive and it left me wondering if they really did commit the crime.
The downside was in some of the writing. At times it could be hard to follow and I occasionally felt like I was reading a high school text book. However, most of the book was intriguing and well-written. It provided an interesting insight into a dark side of our history.
The downside was in some of the writing. At times it could be hard to follow and I occasionally felt like I was reading a high school text book. However, most of the book was intriguing and well-written. It provided an interesting insight into a dark side of our history.
February 23, 2014
Deadly Australian Women is about 19th and 20th century Australian women who killed – or who were, at the very least, accused of killing – and the societal attitudes and laws that affected these women and, in some cases, drove them to kill.
Kay Saunders provides a neat outline of each individual case, going into on the background of the woman (or women) at the heart of the case, before inspecting the case in detail. It was frustrating when the historical record went silent and Saunders was unable to write what had become of the woman.
The writing style was on the whole easily accessible, though I caught a fair few typos. In addition, I was a bit annoyed that on one page Saunders wrote that there was no record for the burial of Mary McLauchlan only to turn the page and find a reproduction of the burial record for Mary McLauchlan.
I found this a good introductory text to the topic and felt frustrated that there wasn't a "further reading" section I could use to delve into the topic more. Saunders' text is however well referenced and I would happily pick-up her first book, Notorious Australian Women for more on the subject.
Kay Saunders provides a neat outline of each individual case, going into on the background of the woman (or women) at the heart of the case, before inspecting the case in detail. It was frustrating when the historical record went silent and Saunders was unable to write what had become of the woman.
The writing style was on the whole easily accessible, though I caught a fair few typos. In addition, I was a bit annoyed that on one page Saunders wrote that there was no record for the burial of Mary McLauchlan only to turn the page and find a reproduction of the burial record for Mary McLauchlan.
I found this a good introductory text to the topic and felt frustrated that there wasn't a "further reading" section I could use to delve into the topic more. Saunders' text is however well referenced and I would happily pick-up her first book, Notorious Australian Women for more on the subject.
July 7, 2013
It's discomforting to read these sorts of books. They are the stories of women who have murdered and whilst some of these women were undoubtedly guilty, the tales of the desperate, the poor, abused and betrayed make it hard not to look rather critically at society "norms" and behaviours. Perhaps that's what's important about these sorts of books.
August 28, 2013
Fascinating stories and I loved all the details about the lawyers, juries and judges present at the cases. She really painted a picture of what Australia (and sometimes Britain) was like at the time of these crimes and trials. However, occasionally the writing was a bit disjointed and I got confused sometimes at the way a story was introduced.
abandoned
May 6, 2013What sounds like an interesting topic, is lost in too much information.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews