31 Bond Street [Hardcover]

Ellen Horan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2010

Who killed Dr. Harvey Burdell?

Though there are no witnesses and no clues, fingers point to Emma Cunningham, the refined, pale-skinned widow who managed Burdell’s house and his servants. Rumored to be a black-hearted gold digger with designs on the doctor’s name and fortune, Emma is immediately put under house arrest during a murder investigation. A swift conviction is sure to catapult flamboyant district attorney Abraham Oakey Hall into the mayor’s seat. But one formidable obstacle stands in his way: the defense attorney Henry Clinton. Committed to justice and the law, Clinton will aid the vulnerable widow in her desperate fight to save herself from the gallows.

Set in 1857 New York, this gripping mystery is also a richly detailed excavation of a lost age. Horan vividly re-creates a tumultuous era characterized by a sensationalist press, aggressive new wealth, a booming real-estate market, corruption, racial conflict, economic inequality between men and women, and the erosion of the old codes of behavior. A tale of murder, sex, greed, and politics, this spellbinding narrative transports readers to a time that eerily echoes our own.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Scandal, social climbing, and corruption in Manhattan during the 1850s come alive in Horan’s historical mystery. Emma Cunningham, a widow with two teenage daughters, becomes financially and emotionally involved with Harvey Burdell, a wealthy dentist and land speculator. Without witnesses, he is murdered brutally in their Bond Street townhouse, and Cunningham is accused of the crime. An ambitious lawyer, Henry Clinton, risks his reputation and livelihood to defend her and solve the crime. Meanwhile, Horan describes living conditions in mid-nineteenth-century Manhattan: government corruption is rampant, Tammany Hall is coming to power, the Fugitive Slave Acts threaten to undo the work of the Underground Railroad, and poverty and wealth run equally rampant. Horan’s characters, like Edith Wharton’s, are motivated by social class and survival in a world ruled by wealth and national uncertainty. This unique look at history and the private lives of those affected by it makes for captivating reading. --Heather Paulson

Review

“31 BOND STREET is an impressive blend of imagination and history as it vividly brings to life one of New York’s City’s most notorious crimes. Ellen Horan has written a novel that, once begun, will be difficult for any reader to put down.” (Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena )

“This thrilling book becomes not only a murder mystery, but a Wharton-esque examination of the mores and customs of antebellum New York society. . . . Rich with historical detail, 31 BOND STREET is one of the best debut novels in a long while.” (BookPage )

“Horan brings to life a sensational 19th-century New York City murder trial in which a woman is accused of viciously killing her husband. . . . An engaging mix of fact and fiction, with a juicy trial, sensationalistic reporters, and lots of local urban color.” (Kirkus Reviews )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (March 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061773964
• ISBN-13: 978-0061773969
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #407,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

http://www.31BondStreet.com
Ellen Horan was raised in Philadelphia and New York. After graduating from college, where she studied painting and history, she lived in France for a year while working as an au pair and studying studio art. She remained abroad for a second year and was offered a grant to live and paint in the South of France. She returned to New York City and worked for many years with photographers and photo agencies. She maintained an art studio and worked as a freelance photo editor for magazines and books. She turned her attention to writing after becoming intrigued by the Bond Street murder case. She lives in downtown Manhattan, the setting of her first novel, 31 Bond Street.

Praise for 31 Bond Street
"The story is a blend of historical evidence and fictional imagin-
ing, an engrossing read that gains much from the author's his-
torical acuity while making no compromises on narrative pace.
Horan writes eloquently of the rapidly expanding city, con-
trasting the bustle of the downtown streets and the mansion-
building frenzy on Fifth Avenue with the orchards and kitchen
gardens of Greenwich Village. . . . It's not easy to breathe life
into real-life characters, especially when quoting their words
extensively from reported sources, but Cunningham and Clin-
ton live on the page as freshly as if they had stepped, new-
minted, from Horan's vivid imagination." --Washington Post

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "It's Caleb Carr meets Scott Turow"..., March 2, 2010

By 

Jill Meyer (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 31 Bond Street (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

That is not my quote, but rather one by Beverly Swerling on the back cover of Ellen Horan's marvelous novel, "31 Bond Street".

Horan's novel is a remarkable combination of history and crime, centering on the real life murder of Dr Harvey Burdell, in New York City in 1857. Dr Burdell, a dentist and businessman, was smitten - to some degree, at least - with Emma Cunningham, a widow with two teenage daughters. The story of the grim murder by person or persons unknown was brought to life daily with lurid details in the tabloids of the time. Mrs Cunningham was arrested and brought to trial for Burdell's brutal murder in his own home.

Horan's story - she takes the four or five main characters in the real murder and subsequent trial and gives them all a back story and blends them together to come up with what might have happened in January, 1857. What was true and what was fictional come together in a beautifully written saga by Horan that never failed to hold my attention. She is quite well versed in the New York City politics and the national politics of 1857, both of which contribute to her story.

One of the historical tidbits I picked up from the story was the origin of the New York Times' claim to be "The Paper of Record". I had always just assumed it was an advertising boast, but evidently, in the 1800's, the New York Times actually sent court reporters to trials and hearings and wrote the official trial transcripts. Hence, "The Paper of Record"

Horan's novel is quite a read.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars un-put-down-able, April 1, 2010

By 

J. Thomas (sagaponack,ny) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 31 Bond Street (Hardcover)

bought this book yesterday and simply could not put it down until I finished... a compelling story and well-told tale with impeccable historic detail and extensive research..loved it and can't wait to get to the city to walk down Bond Street today just to imagine what it was like then. Don't miss this must read!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder Mystery or Social Commentary?, April 8, 2010

By 

Brian Kelly (Dunwoody, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 31 Bond Street (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

While it is very hard to come up with a genre for this book, it is none-the-less an enjoyable read. It follows the mysterious death of Dr. Harvey Burdell (a dentist by trade, but a man of seriously questionable morals), presumed by the law, the media, and the population at large to have been committed by Emma Cunningham (Burdell's mistress? wife? housekeeper?). The background storyline is based on the facts of a true, unsolved murder in 1857, which Ellen Horan has fictionalized with a possible explanation, carefully hinted at throughout the book, but hidden until the end.

While a finely crafted "whodunit?", 31 Bond Street's greater allure is the social fabric on which is it written. Each character helps paint a picture of society in the era. The rich doctor who steals but is above the law; the poor widow who will sacrifice anything for her children's future; the black groom who has fleed slavery but knows he is still not safe in the North; the poor boy who has to work to support his family; the Southern gentlemen intent on preventing the North from changing their way of life; the daughter pushed into the arms of a man she doesn't love to meet her mother's idea of propriety; the lawyer who fights for the rights of the unjustly accused. All these fine characters make it very easy for the reader to place himself inside storyline and thereby learn more about the societal norms of the period.

Four stars out of five: Would like to have seen a little more historical background to balance out the fiction (à la "Devil in the White City"), but still a very good read.