Adirondack Tragedy: The Gillette Murder Case of 1906

Relive the heart-wrenching story of one of the most famous crimes in New York’s history; the murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette at Big Moose Lake. Made famous by a media frenzy fueled by the sensational newspaper reporting of 1906, this "crime of the century" seeped into the American culture. The story of Chester and Grace was the inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s novel An American Tragedy and the Hollywood movie A Place in the Sun. Brownell and Enos deliver a fascinating day-by-day account of the events leading to the death of Grace Brown, the media hyped, sensational trial of Chester Gillette, and the cultural immortalization of an Adirondack Tragedy.

Adirondack Tragedy features 32 black and white photos, 16 maps and drawings, and the never before published reproduction of the original "last letter" of Grace Brown to Chester Gillette from the archives of the Hamilton College Library. Three chapters are devoted to Drieser’s novel, the Hollywood versions of the story, and a comparison with the facts of the case.