This was an enjoyable book to read, if reading about someone who is due to be hung can be.Janet Lee very skillfully takes you into the mind of Louisa so that you feel that you really know her. I probably would not have picked this book up, but I heard it being discussed on a radio program and it captured my imagination, let it capture yours.

I enjoyed this book written from the point of view of Louisa Collins, hanged for murdering her husband - I think the author did a great job of bringing her to life and my only beef is the lack of dialogue - it is recounted and not direct dialogue, which I found stultifying.

A well written perspective from a possibly wrongly convicted woman tried for murdering her husband.

Wonderful imagining of a real life event. I can easily believe the way the author put things here is how things actually went for the main character. It's such a common and heartbreaking tale of a life lost to others, of a woman who had little to no saying in her own destiny but was still condemned by men to be killed.

A decent historical fiction about a real life woman in an unfavourable situation. Compares to Long Bay and Burial Rites - it's an easier read than both and I enjoyed it more than Burial Rites, although I think it was more simplistic. Also, not many main characters are called Louisa so I kind of had to read this one.

Beautifully written; Janet Lee has created a heart-breaking voice for her character and was respectful when it would be easy to be callous. The depiction of the the failings of justice were upsetting, but the strength of the character distracted from it.

The story of the last woman hanged in NSW was completely absorbing. In my mind the question still is, did Louisa Collins kill both of her husbands? I believe so.

*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.comLet Louisa Collins, the last woman hanged in NSW speak to you from the grave, as she provides a firsthand account of her notorious life and times, through the expert workmanship of author Janet Lee. The Killing of Louisa is a careful and thoroughly researched historical reconstruction of a woman who was a sadly a product of the era in which she was situated. Tried four times for the death of her two husbands, resulting in hung juries and eventually a guilty

*www.onewomansbbr.wordpress.com*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr**3.5 stars**The Killing of Louisa by Janet Lee. (2018). New South Wales, 1888 - Louisa Collins was sentenced to death after being tried multiple times for the alleged murders of her two husbands. A deciding factor in those trials was the testimony of her young daughter. These events followed a life of love, grief, loss, difficult marriages, financial hardships and the deaths of several of Louisa's children. Will Louisa confess to her

The Killing of Louisa (UQP 2018), a reimagined retelling of the true crime case of Louisa Collins, the last woman hanged in New South Wales in 1889, won the Emerging Author category in the 2017 Queensland Literary Awards for writer Janet Lee. This is a highly readable book, with simple language and short chapters, exactly befitting the distinctive voice of Louisa, from whom the story is told in the first person. Louisa is a woman of her time – educated to only a low level, married at a young age...

Fictional telling of a true hanging . Louisa Collins is supposedly the last woman to be hanged in Australia in the late 19th century . She was tried 4 times for the murder of her husband , and though there wasn't any conclusive evidence .. she was punished.Not s very interesting story ... Mostly boring .. but the curiosity to know what really happened to Louisa's 2 husbands kept me plodding on.It was so-so..

The novel is about Louisa Collins who, in 1889, was the last woman to be hanged in New South Wales. Her story is a horrifying one: she was tried four times for murder, with the fourth trial convicting her after the three previous ones failed to come to a decision. There’s more to it though, in that the first two were for the murder, by poison, of her second husband. When the juries could not agree, she was charged with the murder, also by poison, of her first husband. When that too failed, they

I thought the book was ok. It didn't really grab me and didn't hold my attention.The book is a true story about the hanging of Louisa Collins. There are some interesting circumstances around this. She was tried 3 times before she was found guilty on the fourth. It seems they were pretty keen to find her guilty. She was found guilty on the testimony of her 11 year old daughter. It all sounds like they didn't have a lot of evidence but the media blew the case up, which eventually led to her being

Janet Lee has put together a credible background for Louisa Collins, imagining her life as it unfolded before the death of her husbands. Louisa comes across as a little naive and trusting. Based on historical records of the time, this is a telling indictment of the way women were treated by men.

The Killing of Louisa gives a compelling voice to a woman who had none. Of course, most of Louisa’s life story itself is pure imagination on Lee’s part, though it makes for fascinating and vivid reading.Lee draws Louisa Collins as an average woman of average intelligence who lives in typical nineteenth-century poverty. Her language is plain and convincing. I could hear Louisa speak, I felt like I could reach into the book and smell her rancid prison cell with the ‘slops’ bucket full of piss and

Brilliant and compelling. Full review to come.

For once, I’m kind of glad of my lack of historical knowledge. Because although I was kind of peripherally aware of this story before I picked up this book (only in the way that I knew it’d been the subject of a non-fiction book), I didn’t really know the full story. This is a fictionalised re-telling of the story of Louisa Collins, the last woman hanged in New South Wales, in 1889. Her story is perhaps not an unusual one, for most of her life. She was born into a family that were mostly poor, w...

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I understand that not everyone is interested in the crimes and trials of the past. 'The Killing of Louisa' is the story of a woman who was tried four times for poisoning her husbands and subsequently hanged in 1888. At times, historical sources do not include the voiceless and what I often enjoy about historical fiction, is that the voiceless are given voice and there is a chance for a version of their events to be heard.Author, Janet Lee meticulously resear...

A compelling and insightful narrative of a woman who was most likely the victim of circumstantial evidence and the unfairness and harshness of the 19th century law system and society in general. Her story could have been any young woman whose naivety and circumstances found her propelled through a world that she had no power in. Even her daughter was used as a pawn instead of actual evidence and proper procedure. The narrative was tempered and measured in the highly emotional backdrop of a socie...

Largely picked up because of my namesake, but an enjoyable read. Exploring the historocal case of Louisa Collins set in late 19th century Australia. An invented personal history and persona grafted onto verifiable historical sources and documents about the woman's life. When you overlook the fundamental conceit that her innocence cannot actually be determined, the evidence in her defence is compelling. There is some effort made to parrot her style of speech in parts, with phrases like "I done it...