• "Screams in the dark . . . cries in the night . . .
and footsteps on the stair. The story of the scandal at Bizarre
is a cold case more compelling than any fiction. In the hands of
a serious historian and talented writer, the tale of an American
family caught in a maelstrom of gossip becomes a window on the lost
world of the Virginia founders. Scandal at Bizarre is that
rare historical bookóa page-turner!"
—Catherine Allgor, author of A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison
and the Creation of the American Nation
• "Beginning with the events of one distraught night
in 1792, Cynthia Kierner uncovers a disturbing part of Thomas Jeffersonís
Virginia. Weaving subtle analysis throughout a taut narrative, this
book reveals a complex world of sex, honor, slavery, law, public
opinion, and power we have only glimpsed before.î
—Edward L. Ayers, author of In the Presence of Mine Enemies:
War in the Heart of America, 1859-1863
• "Using overall analysis and case study, Kierner .
. . [makes a] striking contribution not only to the historiography
of the period of the early Republic in which [her] narrative occur[s]
but also to scholarsí understanding of the Revolution that [she]
set[s] powerfully in perspective."
—Rhys Isaac, William and Mary Quarterly
|
Scandal at Bizarre:
Rumor and Reputation in Jefferson's America |
| |
| Cynthia A. Kierner |
| 256 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 |
| 20 b&w illustrations |
| Paper 978-0-8139-2616-2 • $18.95 |
 |
"Here's a scholarly book that artfully relates a riveting
tale with lasting historical repercussions and significance. Readers
will be drawn by the story of a strong woman who may have been
wronged; the great Randolph family of Virginia torn asunder; the
implication of members of Thomas Jefferson's circle; slaves' whispers
fanning the flames of scandal; and eventual reconciliation of
sorts. . . . [Kierner] reports with a colorist's deft touch and
a fiction writer's delight while remaining faithful to scholarly
conventions and trends. . . . This account analyzes part of the
reality of Jefferson's Virginia in the nation's early years. Kierner
makes us look at the world of the founders in all its messy complexity
and humanity."
—Publishers Weekly
In the early 1790s Richard Randolph was accused of fathering
a child by his sister-in-law, Nancy, and murdering the baby shortly
after its birth. Rumors about the incident, which occurred during
a visit to the plantation of close family friends, spread like
wildfire. Randolph found himself on trial for the crime largely
because of the public outrage fueled by these rumors. The rest
of the household suffered too, and only Nancy, who later married
the esteemed New York statesman Gouverneur Morris, would find
any degree of happiness. A tale of family passion, betrayal, and
deception, Scandal at Bizarre is a fascinating historical
portrait of the social and political realities of a world long
vanished.
Cynthia A. Kierner, University of North
Carolina, Charlotte, is author of Beyond the Household: Womenís
Place in the Early South, 1700-1835 and Traders and Gentlefolk:
The Livingstons of New York, 1675-1790.
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