Description
Forced to flee the city, Delphine Lalaurie's guilt went unquestioned during her lifetime, and tales of her actions have become increasingly fanciful and grotesque over the decades. Stories of perverted tortures, of burying slaves alive, of cutting off their limbs have continued to plague her legacy.
A meticulous researcher of New Orleans history, Carolyn Long disentangles the threads of fact and legend that have intertwined over the decades. Was Madame Lalaurie a sadistic abuser? Mentally ill? Or merely the victim of an unfair and sensationalist press? Using carefully documented eyewitness testimony, archival documents, and family letters, Long recounts Lalaurie's life from legal troubles before the fire through the scandal of her exile to France to her death in Paris in 1849.
As she demonstrated in her biography of Marie Laveau A New Orleans Voudou Priestess Long's ability to tease the truth from the knots of sensationalism is uncanny. Proving once again that history is more fascinating than elaborated fiction, she opens wide the door on the legend of Madame Lalaurie's haunted house.
About the Author
Carolyn Morrow Long retired from the National Museum of American History in 2001. She is the author of A New Orleans Voudou Priestess. She lives in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, USA.
Book Information
ISBN 9780813061832
Author Carolyn Morrow Long
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint University Press of Florida
Publisher University Press of Florida
Weight(grams) 394g