Review by Choice Review
Using case studies spanning over four centuries, Kilday (criminal history, Oxford Brookes Univ., UK) examines the varied roles that men and women across Great Britain played in the criminal act of newborn child murder. The author uncovers a hidden history of what she refers to as the "dark figure" of infanticide. The socioeconomic landscape of early modern Britain created the archetype of newborn child murder: an unmarried woman who faced prosecution fueled by problematic evidence and inconsistent sentencing. Kilday argues that infanticide was a crime committed both in isolation and under a network of surveillance, as early modern living and working environments were anything but private. Legal records, personal papers, and printed media suggest that infanticide was predominantly a criminal act of domestic servants. Kilday uses this evidence in her book's first half to examine the physical and emotional circumstances and networks of people who actively played a part in criminal acts. The final three chapters trace public responses to cases of infanticide and the history of how prosecutions and attempts at legal and moral reform evolved. More than a history of gender and crime, this book would benefit students at all levels because of its thorough methodological approach. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. M. A. Riebe University of Missouri-Kansas City
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
