In 1895 twenty-six-year-old Bridget Cleary disappeared from her cottage in rural County Tipperary and remained missing for several days. At last her body was discovered, bent, broken, and badly burned in a shallow grave. Within a few days, her unimaginable story came to light: for almost a week before her death she had been confined, starved, threatened, physically and verbally abused, exorcised, and finally burned to death by her husband, father, aunt, cousins, and neighbours, who had collectively confused a simple flu with possession by the fairies. In The Cooper's Wife Is Missing, Joan Hoff and Marian Yeates try to make sense of this outlandish, unfathomable, medieval "trial" and murder. Drawing on firsthand accounts, contemporary newspaper reports, police records, trial testimony, and a rich wealth of folklore, they weave a mesmerizing fireside tale of magic, madness, and mystery. This is narrative history at its evocative best.

About the Author
Joan Hoff is Director of the Contemporary History Institute of the University of Ohio, Athens. She is the author of Nixon Reconsidered and Law, Gender, and Injustice.Marian Yeates has a Ph.D. in American History from Indiana University. She writes from her home in Island Park, Idaho.


Book Information
ISBN 9780465030880
Author Joan Hoff
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint Basic Books
Publisher Basic Books
Weight(grams) 490g
Dimensions(mm) 202mm * 128mm * 28mm