Customer Reviews

Never Seen the Moon: The Trials of Edith Maxwell

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The Depression era saw its fair share of sensational murder trials in the United States: Winnie Ruth Judd (the 'Trunk Murderess'), child-killing cannibal Albert Fish, and Bruno Richard Hauptmann (accused of kidnapping and killing the Lindbergh baby), to name a few. They all received extensive press coverage, provoked controversy, and went on to become the subject of more than one best-selling book. Although her two trials in connection with the death of her controlling father were cause celebres for their durations, Edith Maxwell has never received a book-length examination of her case until now. And that's what makes Sharon Hatfield's "Never Seen the Moon" such a fascinating read and important social document.

It's more than just the reporting of a young schoolteacher's now-forgotten battle for her life and then her freedom. Sharon Hatfield exposes 1930s America's prejudice toward Appalachian culture in general and 'hillbillies' in particular, political restrictions that forbade women from sitting on the Maxwell jury and allowing her to truly be judged by a collection of her peers, and the younger generation's fight to challenge violent paternal authority.

"Never Seen the Moon" can be read and interpreted as an exciting piece of True Crime or a sobering social document. Highly recommended.

I'm not much of a writer of reviews but do want to heartily recommend this book to all and especially anyone interested in the Appalachian area, history, media, or law.
I did truly find it to be a page-turner.
I'm a native of the area but this case was a little before my time and I had not heard a word about it. I was hooked from the first page.
I do think most people would like this book for one reason or another. I was so surprised to see how Wise County was a bit before its time in some of the legal aspects of the trial.

This was recommended to me by a local bookseller (sorry Amazon, I bought it from her) who told me it was good. She was wrong; it's far better than good. Sharon Hatfield does a fine, fine job reconstructing this long-forgotten case and weaving a great cast of interesting characters into the tale.

We have mountain folk, country lawyers, city lawyers, proto-feminists, yellow pressmen and a couple of giants of journalism -- Ernie Pyle and James Thurber -- who strut onto the stage of this drama at one time or another.

This was a national (or at least Eastern) furor heard far outside the confines of Wise County, Va., thanks mostly to the Hearst press. The tale lies at the intersection of sectional and sexual prejudice. Who would have thought the most forward-looking feminists of the day would be among the worst purveyors of anti-Appalachian stereotypes?

I'd recommend it to any hillbilly, lawyer, journalist or hillbilly lawyer or hillbilly journalist I know.