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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen is a true story that takes place in 1911. It follows the Williamson sisters, Claire and Dora. They have traveled to the Institute of Natural Therapeutics, run by Linda Hazzard. Hazzard believed in the power of fasting to cure ailments. She convinced people that her treatments would heal them and then she proceeded to torture them. She would get them to sign over their finances, property, and make her their legal guardian. This book details her treatments and the court trial against Hazzard when someone finally stood up to her. Obviously this is not a happy story and has horrific information about what happened to her “patients”. I have liked Gregg Olsen’s writing style in the past and had hoped this one would be as fascinating. It was honestly a slog. It seemed like it got repetitive and could have been a shorter story. Hazzard was evil, that is for sure. For so many people to have seen what she was doing to people and then they turned a blind eye is a tragedy. I feel like this story could have been better executed in the telling of it. The narrator for the audiobook is wonderful, though. 2/5 stars.
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informative
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Very long read.
Extremely long chapters
Some parts had em others. And other parts felt way too dragged out. Was only the start and ending where the book felt good.
True story
Extremely long chapters
Some parts had em others. And other parts felt way too dragged out. Was only the start and ending where the book felt good.
True story
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
A) we're so back.
B) god, I love a well - thought out and unsensationalized work of crime fiction.
B) god, I love a well - thought out and unsensationalized work of crime fiction.
So, this is the true story of two wealthy sisters with more money than sense decide to cure non-existent ills by fasting under the care of a licensed doctor with no medical training. See, in turn of the century Washington State, you could get your medical license like that. Linda Burfield Hazzard completely dominates the women until one starves herself to death. Although 14 others had died before her, Dr. Hazzard escaped liability until she guided toward the death the daughter of a wealthy family with a determined former nanny and deeply devoted sister. Part one is the story of the sisters. Part two is the death. And part three is the trial. Two things stopped me from giving this 5 stars. 1) wish we knew more about Sam Hazzard - for it seemed to me that as a disgraced West Point man he was very much a missed opportunity and 2) the writing wasn't always very engaging. Still, this is a story that tells itself and it was worth telling if you have the stomach for some gross details of edemas and innards.
Interesting and sad read about how a bizarre and popular diet led to the deaths of so many, yet the medical and legal community seemed unconcerned about the devastation Dr. (and I use that loosely) Linda Burfield Hazzard committed. Hazzard called her estate, Wilderness Heights, but the townspeople nicknamed it Starvation Heights – as that is exactly what the compound did – starve people.
In 1910, two wealthy English sisters, Claire and Dora Williamson, came to the Pacific Northwest to meet with Hazzard after reading her book, “Fasting for the Cure of Disease”. Soon, the sisters find themselves captive at Hazzard’s compound, where they are feed a watered-down tomato soup and if they’re lucky, ½ cup of orange juice. One sister dies and the other is, thankfully, rescued. Hazzard and her husband’s MO seemed to be to sucker wealthy individuals to their delusional and unhealthy diet lifestyle and then have them sign over their assets. Leaving the Hazzard’s well-off and most of their victim’s dead (It’s believed 15 people died under her supervision).
Absolutely mesmerizing and at times angering. What was most angering was the fact that the surviving sister, Dora, had to pay for the prosecution of Hazzard. The small town where Starvation Heights was located (Olalla, WA), didn’t have the funds to prosecute. Fortunately, Dora had money, influence, and the support of the British Embassy. Through the British Embassy, they pressured King County to prosecute Hazzard for her reckless disregard for human life and her “diet” that led to many deaths.
Although it got slow towards the end, an absolutely complelling read.
In 1910, two wealthy English sisters, Claire and Dora Williamson, came to the Pacific Northwest to meet with Hazzard after reading her book, “Fasting for the Cure of Disease”. Soon, the sisters find themselves captive at Hazzard’s compound, where they are feed a watered-down tomato soup and if they’re lucky, ½ cup of orange juice. One sister dies and the other is, thankfully, rescued. Hazzard and her husband’s MO seemed to be to sucker wealthy individuals to their delusional and unhealthy diet lifestyle and then have them sign over their assets. Leaving the Hazzard’s well-off and most of their victim’s dead (It’s believed 15 people died under her supervision).
Absolutely mesmerizing and at times angering. What was most angering was the fact that the surviving sister, Dora, had to pay for the prosecution of Hazzard. The small town where Starvation Heights was located (Olalla, WA), didn’t have the funds to prosecute. Fortunately, Dora had money, influence, and the support of the British Embassy. Through the British Embassy, they pressured King County to prosecute Hazzard for her reckless disregard for human life and her “diet” that led to many deaths.
Although it got slow towards the end, an absolutely complelling read.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
DNF. Interesting story for sure, impressively researched, and all the more interesting because it’s true and because this all occurred down the street from where I live…but… at 400+ pages of fairly small text, this book is waaaay longer than it needs to be, filled with so much detail it becomes tedious. The central drama finishes rather quickly, and the rest seemed to be left to investigation and courtroom drama. And sometimes the writing is fairly “tortured.” Take for example:
So: I think people who live nearby would be interested in this story, and it would probably be worthwhile having a copy of this book around, but I wouldn’t say it’s essential reading for anybody. Just worth pointing to in conversation: “Yeah, that happened around here. There’s a book about it that I haven’t read… But yeah, weird story.”
It was one of those sweltering summer days when the saffron slight of the sun smacks the back of the neck, causing baby-fine hairs to adhere to the skin and armpits to rain down, staining the insides of shirtsleeves…the sky over Puget Sound was a seemingly flawless blue tarp… (128)
So: I think people who live nearby would be interested in this story, and it would probably be worthwhile having a copy of this book around, but I wouldn’t say it’s essential reading for anybody. Just worth pointing to in conversation: “Yeah, that happened around here. There’s a book about it that I haven’t read… But yeah, weird story.”
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced