The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Worrall (and a Reading Challenge!)

A non-fiction hybrid of true crime, history, literature, and religion, The Poet and the Murderer is the fascinating tale of a forged Emily Dickinson poem, and the storied past of the forger himself.

Worrall weaves in the history of Mormonism and its most important religious documents, with details of Emily Dickinson's life and poetry. He does this all while telling the tale of Mark Hofmann, a man who began committing forgeries both to become wealthy, and to bring down a church he considered hypocritical, but whose hubris brought him down in a highly dramatic fashion.

Having clearly done his research, Worrall is also able to more than competently discuss handwriting analysis, which is an important component to detecting a forgery. These parts were the sections that got a little dry for me, but I will be the first to admit I picked up this book more for the literature, history, and true crime elements than the science.

4/5 stars ****



And now, the promised note on a Reading Challenge! Novel Dreams (www.noveldreams.co.uk) is hosting an awesome sounding months-long challenge/contest. The first round is up now-I highly recommend you check it out! I started The Last September by Nina De Gramont this morning for the first round.