Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 11/01/2022 *Starred Review* In this tour de force, Miller (The Borden Murders, 2016) leads readers through the web of conspiracy surrounding Lincoln’s assassination to encounter the woman seemingly at its core: Mary Surratt, proprietor of the boardinghouse where John Wilkes Booth met with his allies. The intricate narrative proceeds chronologically from the night of the assassination into the chase, capture, questioning, and trials of each suspect, and it's enlivened by dramatic primary-source material as well as the author’s own vivid turns of phrase. The courtroom is the riveting centerpiece, described in such sensory detail that readers feel every twist as they confront the implications of trial by military tribunal rather than in civil court. Not only were defendants prohibited from testifying, their lawyers were required to prove them innocent while being kept out of the discovery loop. Mary Surratt’s case was dependent on intent: if she was unaware of the conspiracy swirling around the visitors to her boardinghouse, there was no crime. Unfortunately, public opinion, bias in the press, and ever-shifting testimonies played crucial roles. Surratt’s last days were rich with pathos. Yet she remains a mystery, and the question of her guilt is unresolved. Miller both respects her subject and satisfies her audience’s hunger for true crime, shares the quirks of interpreting source material, and uncovers the interplay of police corruption, politics, prisoners’ rights, and sexism in Mary’s fate. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 11/01/2022 Gr 7 Up—The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is well-covered ground in youth literature, but information on one of the coconspirators, Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government, can be hard to find. Miller remedies this with her exhaustive look into Surratt's trial and execution. Surratt, a slave owner and resident of Maryland, a Union state, was the mother of John Surratt, a Confederate messenger. She also ran a boarding house that John Wilkes Booth was said to frequent. Shortly after Lincoln's death, she was arrested along with several other conspirators. Despite being a civilian, she was given a trial by a military tribunal as it was argued finding an impartial jury would be impossible. The tribunal did not give her any protections that a civilian court would afford the accused. In fact, her lawyers were denied rights as basic as evidence discovery, leaving them only minutes to think of questions for the prosecution's witnesses after hearing testimony for the first time. Examples like this abound throughout the narrative, which will leave readers shaking their heads. All along, Surratt maintained her innocence and was convicted despite a split among the tribunal members. Her son went into hiding for years, then was subsequently captured but was freed due to the statute of limitations. VERDICT Miller provides readers a compelling and detailed analysis of the courtroom proceedings against Surratt that will intrigue lovers of history and true crime stories. Recommended for middle and high school collections.—Karen T. Bilton - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 11/01/2022 *Starred Review* In this tour de force, Miller (The Borden Murders, 2016) leads readers through the web of conspiracy surrounding Lincoln’s assassination to encounter the woman seemingly at its core: Mary Surratt, proprietor of the boardinghouse where John Wilkes Booth met with his allies. The intricate narrative proceeds chronologically from the night of the assassination into the chase, capture, questioning, and trials of each suspect, and it's enlivened by dramatic primary-source material as well as the author’s own vivid turns of phrase. The courtroom is the riveting centerpiece, described in such sensory detail that readers feel every twist as they confront the implications of trial by military tribunal rather than in civil court. Not only were defendants prohibited from testifying, their lawyers were required to prove them innocent while being kept out of the discovery loop. Mary Surratt’s case was dependent on intent: if she was unaware of the conspiracy swirling around the visitors to her boardinghouse, there was no crime. Unfortunately, public opinion, bias in the press, and ever-shifting testimonies played crucial roles. Surratt’s last days were rich with pathos. Yet she remains a mystery, and the question of her guilt is unresolved. Miller both respects her subject and satisfies her audience’s hunger for true crime, shares the quirks of interpreting source material, and uncovers the interplay of police corruption, politics, prisoners’ rights, and sexism in Mary’s fate. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.