In 1906, a handsome young man by the name of Chester Gillette, who had a roving eye and a history of petty crimes, got his co-worker Grace Brown pregnant. The obvious solution would have been for him to marry her, but Gillette was still dating other women and seems to have been tired of Grace anyway. So, rather than marry her, he took her on a "vacation" to various resorts in the Adirondacks. At one of these, they hired a boat. Chester never returned the boat or paid for it, and Grace's body ended up on the bottom of the lake with signs of having been attacked before going into the water.

Chester Gillette had never signed his name to the hotel registers, using several pseudonyms, but he was soon apprehended. He told various stories about what happened, including that Grace had committed suicide by jumping from the boat, but he was nonetheless charged with murder. There were no witnesses to the crime itself, but there were many witnesses to Chester seducing Grace, taking advantage of her desperate love for him, skipping out on his bills, faking his name, and leading her to the death spot. There was also his history of minor thefts and his history of being involved with multiple women. After a long trial, he was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. There were appeals, but he went to the electric chair -- quietly, seemingly fearlessly, even contentedly -- in 1908.

The trial had been a media circus, with the papers competing to tell more lurid stories -- often invented stories, especially during the long jury selection or on the days when the court was not in session and they had to make up something to grab readers' attention. It was out of this witch's brew of fact, fiction, and sheer tackiness that Theodore Dreiser fashioned his An American Tragedy, changing all the names and overlaying it with a sociological viewpoint very far removed from the lives of Chester and Grace. But then, the love triangle he portrayed was also far from the actual history of Chester and Grace; although he dated many women, none other than Grace seem to have been deeply involved with him.

Dreiser's book (which, in the hierarchy of these things, was not a retelling, nor even really "based on a true story," but more "inspired by a true story") in turn inspired two movies (which themselves rewrote Dreiser's rewrite), the better-known being A Place in the Sun, but it was many years before there was an attempt at a non-fiction account. And even that was pretty lurid.

Finally, in 1986, came two serious books, this one and Joseph W. Brownell and Patricia A. Wawrzaszek's Adirondack Tragedy: The Gillette Murder Case of 1906. Both worked hard to get to the actual facts as far as they can be known. Later, Brandon and Jack Sherman published The Prison Diary and Letters of Chester Gillette. These three volumes together contain just about all the serious scholarship about the Gillette case that has appeared in book form.

All three books are reasonably well-documented and strike me as reliable (though the diaries are dishwater-dull unless you want to read about a psychopath's conversion to a version of Christianity I find rather unpleasant). Brownell/Wawrzaszek is shorter and a slightly easier read; it is probably where I would start someone with a casual interest in the case. But this book is much fuller and brings you closer to the story. It also feels as if the research is better, although I haven't checked the references to be sure. And it isn't a bad read as long as you can handle the occasional gory moments (which are, after all, a part of the actual history).

The Gillette story is ugly; I only researched it because there is a ballad about the case for which I wanted background. These aren't my sorts of books. But if you want historical background on an actual event that has resonated through American literature ever since, I don't hesitate to recommend this volume. ( )

This book tells the story of the crime which became raw material for Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy" -- the 1906 murder of Grace Brown at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks in New York State. It is about a true crime, but it is not of the "true crime" genre as commonly understood. Part I of the book is a very scholarly -- perhaps almost too scholarly, at times -- presentation of the facts of the case. Part 2 looks at the myths which have emerged about the crime over the years.

The reason for Brandon's meticuous attention to detail about the crime in Part 1 of the book is obvious from his comments in Part 2; between the sensational (and often false) newspaper coverage in the newspapers of the time, and the famous novelization by Dreiser, which altered many details of the events -- and the subsequent movies based on Dreiser's book -- the true story of what happened that tragic July day in 1906 has been largely lost. Brandon seeks to set the record straight and dispel the myths that have been perpetuated over the years. With his careful scholarship and reporting, I believe he accomplishes this goal quite well. But it is not always gripping reading -- which is OK. I learned a lot. I did find myself skimming sometimes. ( )

I got interested in reading this book when I was reading A Northern Light. The author quoted some of Grace Brown's letters. This book did not disappoint me. It is very well researched and written, it almost reads like a novel, it gives facts and details without dragging, when he writes about something that was said but not known able to be proved he reports that. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in true crime books. After he covers the crime, trial and execution, he relates how it ended up being a best selling novel and the films that were made 'loosely based' on the account. ( )