The Trial of Helen McLeod

Parsons, Alice Beal

Verlag: Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York/London, 1938

Beschreibung

(oatmeal cloth; no dust jacket) [good solid book, minor shelfwear and a bit of soiling to covers and bottom edges, slight bumping/softening to the tips, old bookseller's rubber-stamp (Bertrand Smith's Book Store, Long Beach, California) on front pastedown]. Set in a (fictitious) small Illinois town, this novel was inspired by what the author, in a prefatory note, refers to as "a historical episode which marked an end of many things in American life" -- this being the first major "Red scare" in the U.S., that took place shortly after World War I. The plot concerns the title character, a society matron who turns to Socialism and begins championing the rights of workers; this naturally raises the ire of the community, in particular an organization called the Blackhawk County Committee for Patriotism and Defense, and she winds up being put on trial for sedition. Where the book really gets interesting is when Mrs. McLeod engages, as her defense counsel, none other than Clarence Darrow, who makes his first appearance about one-third of the way into the narrative. Although the author declares that "all the characters in the book except Darrow are fictitious," when it comes to its depiction of Darrow himself the book skirts close to factuality. A contemporary reviewer noted that the central situation "parallels some of the great lawyer's cases, but none in particular," while also observing that Darrow's "quotations are 'lifted' from [his] courtroom record, or paraphrased by [the author's] personal acquaintance with him." (As the author puts it, although she has invented all his dialogue, "the opinions he expresses in the book have been expressed by him in my hearing, and the words in which he expresses these opinions reproduce as nearly as possible his individual way of talking.") Mrs. Parsons, who over the course of her writing career turned out eight books, dozens of articles and stories, and scads of book reviews), had also been a social worker, and is known to have held feminist/liberal views. Although her direct connection with Darrow is unknown, she was an Illinois native and did graduate work at the University of Chicago, and (if we take her at her word) was at the very least in his orbit. As far as the factual basis for her novel's plot is concerned, it's worth noting that although her papers (held by Syracuse University) apparently contain no manuscript material related to this novel, they do contain a trial transcript for a 1920 court case, Illinois vs. Arthur Person, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the case against Mrs. McLeod. For starters, it involved a man who was accused of being a member of the Communist Labor Party and therefore (as defined by a particular Illinois statute) conspiring to overthrow the U.S. Government, and -- wait for it -- also had Clarence Darrow as his defense attorney. Quite a scarce book. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 26654

Bibliografische Details

Titel: The Trial of Helen McLeod

Verlag: Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York/London

Erscheinungsdatum: 1938

Einband: Hardcover

Zustand: Very Good

Auflage: First Edition.