A review by bdingz
Haunted Girl: Esther Cox & the Great Amherst Mystery by Laurie Glenn Norris, Barbara Thompson

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

3.25

The authors do a great job compiling what little information is available about Esther Cox and organizing a narrative. I’m not sure the book quite does what it sets out to do, which is to “demystify” Cox and combat much of the misogyny that’s baked into her story. Near the end of the book, Norris notes that Cox was more than “a haunted girl” — she was a “daughter, granddaughter, sister, wife, mother…” etc. Even though we know Cox’s life continues beyond the mystery for which she’s known, I don’t think it counts for much to say that she eventually lived a life that was expected of her sex at the time. 

All in all, some mixed feelings about this one, but I’m glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Rape, and Self harm