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Reviews
Amazon Reviews
Richard WJ Newton
Linda Gatto's Rags to Bones is a fine piece of detective work. Meticulously researched and compellingly narrated she takes the reader through the sad saga of a little girl's murder and the subsequent trial, conviction and execution of her killer. As a descendant of the victim's family Linda's imagination was caught by this tale as a child and in recording it so thoroughly she is clearly paying her respects to the womenfolk of her family. The documentary and direct writing style draws the reader in and notwithstanding the necessarily detailed witness statements I found it an intriguing page turner. Despite the grim inevitability of outcome for both victim and villain there are plenty of surprises along the way. So much so, that one is left, unlike the jury, with just a shadow of a doubt.
By Vulliamy
A tragic tale about a poor girl, a child, Eleanor, that leaves you wondering whether the accused really did it or was he a serial killer. Ultimately a very sad tale that cannot be put down. Beautifully woven together, a mixture of contemporary reports and the author's voice. Would make a great dramatisation and the main character Superintendent Elijah Carline has a real name out of central casting.
By mlwalker
This true story is one that has been written with intelligence and sound knowledge gained through tremendous research. It is a story so sad – what is more tragic than the murder of an innocent child. If you can say a book ‘has atmosphere’ this one congers it up by the bucket load. It takes you back to a time that for most folk was simple and went by without too much happening in their lives, other than living. Folk living in a village in the Derbyshire countryside found their lives thrown into turmoil with the gruesome find of a missing child’s dead body. Who was responsible? Who was around on that day? As the evidence unfolded, the culprit caught and tried, you constantly having to think was it the accused? So much detail within the pages you find yourself examining all the evidence given, and of the characters who gave it repeatedly. As stated by another reviewer “the research is meticulous in its minutia” Congratulations Linda Gatto
By Nicky Kennedy
This book is the first of it's kind that I have read and to me was astonishingly detailed given the time period to which it relates. I was impressed by the meticulous research that had obviously gone into the passion to tell the whole story surrounding this murder of a young child together with the emotion that was generated within the communities.
I particularly admired the skill that the writer conveyed in remaining impartial to the eventual outcome so that the reader's reaction swung from 'guilty' to 'not guilty' and back again on many occasions. Highly recommended for many reasons.
By Mike Lacey
This is a book that I have enjoyed reading. It is fact not fiction. The historian in Gatto is shown by the research she has carried to make this book a very interesting read. From the murder of a young girl we look at the inquest, the arrest of the suspect, his trial and the outcome of that trial. It gives a clear insight into how the press reported things and court proceeding of this dreadful act. Did the right man get hung? After reading this book you will be able to judge. If DNA had been around in 1881 would it have made a difference? Someone should take a chance and turn it into a film.
By Lynne Morse
Meticulously written account of real events which took place in nineteenth century rural Derbyshire.
The lives of a simple family were torn apart and a community outraged when the body of little Eleanor Windle was discovered in the village where she lived. The story takes the reader chronologically over a period of three months in 1881.
Phenomenally well researched with a stream of interesting details providing a clear picture of the social history of that time and place, alongside the telling of the story.
Linda Gatto interweaves the various published reports of the events as they unfold with great skill, providing the reader with vivid mental images of the locations and characters involved. Definitely one for the screen.
By Julie
I'll confess part of my interest in this story is very much fired by being born and brought up in Chesterfield so I recognise the locations and even the local businesses and some character names. However I was completely drawn into the tale as I started to understand the incredible research undertaken and then by admiration at how Linda has taken the bare facts and woven a coherent and compelling tale around them. This could have been a very dry account of the events but it isn't, the characters come to life and it's a brilliant insight into our past and how an event like this is goes through the legal process and the impact it has on the whole neighbourhood and all the families involved.
By Vanessa Guiver
This is a great story more so as it is a true and tragic tale. Ms Gatto writes with the devil in the detail but none the less, the detail leads us into the past and it is easy to imagine the simple pastoral countryside where this story unfolds. The research is meticulous in its minutiae and facts roll off the pages as if they were yesterday but the bottom line is the murder of an innocent child. Who would not want this horrendous crime solved? The hope is that someone with 'screen play' tattooed on his forehead, will pick this up, roll it over and transfer it to the silver screen with a 9pm threshold firmly in place.
By Claire
This book appealed to me as I live very close to where the gruesome events took place. As stated by the author, the maps are much clearer in the paperback version, they were very hard to see in the kindle version. The book began well and built up a clear picture of everyday Derbyshire in Victorian Times which I found fascinating. The 2 star rating is due to the over use of exclamation marks in the text, count them as you are reading, also the opinions of the author herself, stating rather obvious things about the characters and their actions. This was not needed as the facts speak for themselves. I probably would not have made it past the first few pages if I was not reading this from the next village along.w paragraph
