Murdering Stepmothers: The Execution of Martha Rendell

Anna Haebich

Murdering Stepmothers is based on the true story of Martha Rendell, the last woman to be hanged in Western Australia.

It brings to life the people of Perth and the entangled mesh of self-righteous bigotry, slander and revenge they invoke to propel the trial of Martha Rendell to its inevitable end.

Sensational rumours of the murder of three small children by their stepmother ignite the passions of Perth citizens in 1909.

Shocked by horrific descriptions of how she poisoned the children, they demand her execution as one voice. But did she do it? Or was she a victim of the prejudices of her persecutors?

Awards

Won – 2011 Margaret Medcalf Award

Praise for Murdering Stepmothers:

Haebich’s descriptive language draws a poignant portrait of the condemned woman as she waits her final hour in the shadow of the noose.

SUNDAY TASMANIAN

 

An evocatively imagined and meticulously researched account of the life of the last woman to be hanged in WA.

SCOOP

Book details

PUBLICATION DATE: 2010
FORMAT: Flexi-bound paperback
EXTENT: 224 pages
SIZE: 198 x 129 mm
ISBN: 9781921401459
RIGHTS: World
CATEGORY: Anna Haebich, Fiction,