{"product_id":"bridgets-hanging-paperback","title":"Bridget's Hanging - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSheila Duane\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn August 30, 1867, on a New Jersey gallows, convicted murderer Bridget Durgan was hanged before a crowd of over five hundred men, women, and children who behaved as though they were attending a carnival. She remained suspended until the cheering crowd was satisfied that justice had been done. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBut had it? In \u003ci\u003eBridget's Hanging\u003c\/i\u003e, Sheila Duane looks carefully at the evidence and concludes that justice was not done: Bridget was tried, condemned, and executed for a murder she didn't commit. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInstead, she was guilty of being poor, illiterate, Irish Catholic, an immigrant, and not beautiful, all of which were loathed in nineteenth-century America. Tried by a media not unlike today's and condemned by mob mentality, Bridget and her sensationalized story eclipsed the murder victim herself-Mary Coriell, for whom Bridget worked as a domestic-and a more likely suspect.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile journalists at the time painted a picture of Bridget as monstrous, Duane looks with fresh eyes at a character who was intellectually childlike, who practiced a foreign religion, believed in unfamiliar superstitions, and who spoke with a brogue that was difficult for Americans to understand. \u003c\/p\u003e Both a well-documented study and an absorbing whodunit, \u003ci\u003eBridget's Hanging\u003c\/i\u003e dissects the case against Bridget Durgan and finds it wholly unconvincing. In doing so, Duane manages to find a little justice for Bridget at last.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSheila Duane has been teaching research writing at the college level for more than twenty years. She has also worked as a researcher, a journalist, and an advertising copywriter. She has been publishing her poetry for many years, most recently with the \u003ci\u003eJournal of New Jersey Poets\u003c\/i\u003e. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico, a master's in teaching from Monmouth University, and a master's in English literature from Rutgers University. \u003c\/p\u003e Duane resides in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, with her husband, Dean, and her son, Jude.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 138\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.3 x 9.02 x 5.98 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 27, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67981937803571,"sku":"9781533349866","price":20.43,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/ZKBHp6kxiU9781533349866.webp?v=1794567049","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/bridgets-hanging-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}