From Cradle to Grave [Mass Market Paperback]

Joyce Egginton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1990

She drove a school bus in Schenectady, New York. She even worked as a nurse's aide in a pediatric ward. But this seemingly normal woman killed her ninth child by smothering it and is suspected of doing the same to her other eight children--while escaping suspicion for more than a decade. HC: Morrow. (Nonfiction) Ctn Qty/50.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marybeth Tinning of Schenectady, N.Y., bore eight children and adopted a ninth; all died in infancy. Imprisoned for the murder of the ninth baby, Tinning had probably killed all the children and suffered from postpartum psychosis, according to Egginton's hypothesis detailed in what PW termed "a sensitive, thought-provoking study." Photos.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

From 1972 to 1985, all the children of the Tinnings, a Schenectady, N.Y. couple, died in infancy. At first, friends and physicians assumed they were victims of "crib death" or an inexplicable genetic flaw. As the deaths continued, suspicion mounted against the mother, who was always alone when her babies were stricken. Without hard evidence, officialdom was agonizingly slow to act, but finally, following a police interrogation, Marybeth made a confession (later retracted) to smothering three children. Investigative reporter Egginton has written a moving, sympathetic account of human tragedy, including insights into what triggers infanticide, a phenomenon which the author suggests is more prevalent than commonly believed. Recommended.
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 362 pages
• Publisher: Jove (May 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515103012
• ISBN-13: 978-0515103014
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely tragic story, very well researched book -make up your own mind as to Marybeth's guilt, January 15, 2006

By 

Janna Jansen (Waiheke Island, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Cradle to Grave (Mass Market Paperback)

Marybeth Tinning gave birth to nine children. After the third-born died at 8 days old due to a suspected self-induction (she wanted the baby to be born on Christmas day) with a coathanger caused meningitis, her other two children (aged 4 and 2) died within the next 8 weeks. She went on to have more children, and even adopted one, who all died one by one.

Unbelievably, it wasn't until the 9th died that the public in her county, social services, police, coroner etc managed to collectively work together to bring a case against her. Previously all of these agencies knew she had children that had died, but none knew the number or all of the information -except her close friends and family.

This book has been meticulously researched, it really is very thorough and well written. As a mother I found it at times unbearable -so many questions remain unanswered. The book contains a photo of each of the children, who were all beautiful.

Gripping reading, but also it is really important to learn something from this -when a child is in distress, no matter how small your suspicion or how afraid you are of offending people -do what you can to protect the child. This is officially the mother's job, but when she is suffering from Munchausen by Proxy she is unable to carry out her role.

That's a 'nice' way of putting it. Read the book and make up your own mind.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "All She Did Was Knock Them Off, One By One", June 16, 2004

By 

TawnTawn (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Cradle to Grave (Mass Market Paperback)

Very well-written and researched. I've re-read this book many times, and each time I see a different aspect of Marybeth or the people around her. Ms. Egginton gives opinions from various scientists and other examples of mothers killing children. I do believe the theory Marybeth killed eight of her children, after possibly causing Jennifer, her third child, to be born with meningitis (because she wanted her born on Christmas). There is quite a bit of research into Marybeth's childhood, however, I wish that her brother had remembered or told more about her possible abuse at the hands of her father. If you don't receive love as a child, you can't give love as an adult. It's no excuse, as she certainly knew right from wrong and had sense enough to lie about the deaths to everyone - I believe she mainly killed them since she learned of the attention it brought her - and because she believed she was a bad mother, could do nothing right, and might as well kill them to get it over with. For some reason, she never learned her lesson, just kept trying again. What would be a nightmare that most people (with consciences) would never recover from, was no big deal to Marybeth. I don't think that she'll ever understand that these babies were human beings in their own right who deserved to live just as much as she thought she did.

UPDATE: Marybeth did admit to killing Tami Lynne at her parole hearing in 2009 - she said she was "going through bad times." At her Jan 26, 2011 hearing, she stated, "After the deaths of my other children...I just lost it. (I) became a damaged worthless piece of person and when my daughter was young, in my state of mind at that time, I just believed that she was going to die also. So I just did it." She said that if she were released, she would live with her husband.

But I think she killed all eight after Jennifer died.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Widow Spider With A Heinous Twist!, May 24, 2001

By 

A - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Cradle to Grave (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book in a day and a half cover-to-cover. I could not put it down, simply because page after page I was left dumbfounded at the absurdness of the people involved in this story. I am appalled and enraged by the ignorance, stupidity and apathy of all who knew this woman and stood silent as she killed her children in the same arrogant pattern over and over again. As for her husband, he must have been in a coma not to catch on after the second time. This is a sad statement of the human condition- close your eyes, turn away and don't get involved. The jury was out to lunch on this one, as well, with a depraved indifference verdict. Given the obvious, this was clear-cut premeditated murder -each time she killed, she would mate, give birth and kill again. If it looks like a snake, sounds like a snake and acts like a snake..... sounds like Murder One to me. Perhaps the only redemption for those 9 innocent souls is that they were spared surviving and growing up at the hands of this calculating monster they would have called "mother" and that simpleton poor excuse for a man they would have called "dad".