Alice + Freda Forever

Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis by Alexis Coe, illustrations by Sally Klann, 223 pages

In 1892, Memphis was shaken by the murder of 17-year-old Freda Ward by her friend Alice Mitchell. The fact that a young woman (Alice was 19 at the time) could do something so horrible was, of course, scandalous, but the real shocker was the fact that Alice and Freda had been in love and intending to get married. Indeed, it was Freda's withdrawal from their engagement that sent Alice into a fit of despair so bad that she took her ex-fiancee's life. Alice's defense lawyers successfully used this same-sex love affair to get their client declared insane, avoiding a death sentence (though she spent the rest of her short life in an insane asylum).

This is a tragic tale that is definitely worth learning about. That said, Coe's writing could have used a bit more nuance and an evener hand. We don't learn much about Alice and Freda's lives before they met, at least beyond what's included in the trial transcripts. We're also bashed over the head with how shocking the insanity-because-she's-a-lesbian plea is, and we're repeatedly reminded that the "jury of peers" was 12 white men; while it's certainly unfortunate that these situations existed, anyone with a basic understanding of the context of the era would understand why both of these sad facts were considered acceptable at that time.

So yes, it's worth reading, if only to learn the story of Alice and Freda. But proceed with caution.