A review by readhikerepeat
Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Gregg Olsen
5.0
From The Book Wheel:
Wow. Just wow. I honestly tried to think of a better word to describe this book, but ‘wow’ is still the main one that comes to mind. You just can’t make this stuff up.Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Gregg Olsen is a book that will keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning because you’re equally fascinated and horrified. I, for one, was horrified by several things: politics and the justice system in the early 1900′s, the doctor’s actions, the people who sought her help, and the zealousness of her followers. But I was also fascinated. Why did the doctor practice what she did? And why did people go to her? And moreover, why did they staywith her? You see, Starvation Heights is a true story. It’s a story about murder, theft, coercion, corruption, conspiracy, botched medical treatments, bigamy, and more. It starts out with the admirable goal of helping people and ends with more than a dozen deaths.
In the early 1900′s, Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard’s one goal in life was to build a sanitarium in small-town Olalla, WA, where she could practice her unconventional (and non-medically certified) cure for the ailing. She had grand dreams, a large piece of land, and a compliant husband. Her belief was that, by fasting, problems such as rheumatoid arthritis, stomach ailments, and other organic diseases could be eliminated. The problem, aside from only taking on wealthy patients she could coerce into handing over their estates, was that they kept dying. One of these patients was Claire Williamson, a wealthy Briton who chased faddist cures and, along with her sister Dora, stumbled into Dr. Hazzard‘s care. The silver lining is that while Claire died (although the body shown to her family members was probably someone else’s), her sister Dora survived and brought the doctor to trial. But going to trial wasn’t enough and the story doesn’t end there.
To be honest, I don’t know what is more horrifying: the fact that Dr. Hazzard did what she did or the things I learned about how things worked in the early 1900′s. The county was so poor that the victim’s family had to foot the bill to go to trial because the prosecutors didn’t want to proceed. They were, in fact, so poor that the jury pooled its money to buy the court bailiff new shoes during the trial because his were so old. Then, there’s the fact that the fasting cure was approved by the State of Washington and that they gave Dr. Hazzard a license to practice medicine in the first place when she had absolutely no schooling in the subject. On top of that, coroners didn’t need medical experience, either! What’s even more shocking is that this is actually still true in a lot of places, but that’s a whole other subject. And that’s not all! Despite the accusations, people still came to her for treatment.
For the full review, click here.
Allison @ The Book Wheel
Wow. Just wow. I honestly tried to think of a better word to describe this book, but ‘wow’ is still the main one that comes to mind. You just can’t make this stuff up.Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Gregg Olsen is a book that will keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning because you’re equally fascinated and horrified. I, for one, was horrified by several things: politics and the justice system in the early 1900′s, the doctor’s actions, the people who sought her help, and the zealousness of her followers. But I was also fascinated. Why did the doctor practice what she did? And why did people go to her? And moreover, why did they staywith her? You see, Starvation Heights is a true story. It’s a story about murder, theft, coercion, corruption, conspiracy, botched medical treatments, bigamy, and more. It starts out with the admirable goal of helping people and ends with more than a dozen deaths.
In the early 1900′s, Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard’s one goal in life was to build a sanitarium in small-town Olalla, WA, where she could practice her unconventional (and non-medically certified) cure for the ailing. She had grand dreams, a large piece of land, and a compliant husband. Her belief was that, by fasting, problems such as rheumatoid arthritis, stomach ailments, and other organic diseases could be eliminated. The problem, aside from only taking on wealthy patients she could coerce into handing over their estates, was that they kept dying. One of these patients was Claire Williamson, a wealthy Briton who chased faddist cures and, along with her sister Dora, stumbled into Dr. Hazzard‘s care. The silver lining is that while Claire died (although the body shown to her family members was probably someone else’s), her sister Dora survived and brought the doctor to trial. But going to trial wasn’t enough and the story doesn’t end there.
To be honest, I don’t know what is more horrifying: the fact that Dr. Hazzard did what she did or the things I learned about how things worked in the early 1900′s. The county was so poor that the victim’s family had to foot the bill to go to trial because the prosecutors didn’t want to proceed. They were, in fact, so poor that the jury pooled its money to buy the court bailiff new shoes during the trial because his were so old. Then, there’s the fact that the fasting cure was approved by the State of Washington and that they gave Dr. Hazzard a license to practice medicine in the first place when she had absolutely no schooling in the subject. On top of that, coroners didn’t need medical experience, either! What’s even more shocking is that this is actually still true in a lot of places, but that’s a whole other subject. And that’s not all! Despite the accusations, people still came to her for treatment.
For the full review, click here.
Allison @ The Book Wheel