The Suitcase Baby: The heartbreaking true story of a shocking crime in 1920s Sydney

Tanya Bretherton

Rated 0

20th century, True stories, True crime, Australasian & Pacific history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, Social & cultural history

Imprint

Hachette Australia
- Paperback Mar 26, 2019 | 9780733641466 | RRP $22.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Jan 30, 2018 | 9780733639227 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 30, 2018 | 9780733639234 | RRP $11.99 Buy Now
Imprint

Hachette Australia
- Paperback Mar 26, 2019 | 9780733641466 | RRP $22.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Jan 30, 2018 | 9780733639227 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 30, 2018 | 9780733639234 | RRP $11.99 Buy Now
Imprint

Hachette Australia
- Paperback Mar 26, 2019 | 9780733641466 | RRP $22.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Jan 30, 2018 | 9780733639227 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 30, 2018 | 9780733639234 | RRP $11.99 Buy Now

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 NED KELLY AWARD, DANGER PRIZE AND WAVERLEY LIBRARY NIB

SYDNEY, 1923: a suitcase washed up on a harbourside beach reveals its grisly contents - and from there, an extraordinary story unfolds.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 NED KELLY AWARD, DANGER PRIZE AND WAVERLEY LIBRARY NIB

True history that is both shocking and too real, this unforgettable tale moves at the pace of a great crime novel.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, 17 November 1923, a suitcase was found washed up on the shore of a small beach in the Sydney suburb of Mosman. What it contained - and why - would prove to be explosive.

The murdered baby in the suitcase was one of many dead infants who were turning up in the harbour, on trains and elsewhere. These innocent victims were a devastating symptom of the clash between public morality, private passion and unrelenting poverty in a fast-growing metropolis.

Police tracked down Sarah Boyd, the mother of the suitcase baby, and the complex story and subsequent murder trial of Sarah and her friend Jean Olliver became a media sensation. Sociologist Tanya Bretherton masterfully tells the engrossing and moving story of the crime that put Sarah and her baby at the centre of a social tragedy that still resonates through the decades.

**Includes an extract from Tanya's next fascinating and chilling true crime story, THE SUICIDE BRIDE**

Praise for The Suitcase Baby: The heartbreaking true story of a shocking crime in 1920s Sydney

Bretherton's unflinching fact-finding is what makes this book throb. - Australian Women's Weekly
Tanya Bretherton tells the moving story of an explosive and unforgettable mystery. - Woman's Day

Discover more

Left

Author Tanya Bretherton talks about her writing process | International Women's Day

5 Minutes With...Tanya Bretherton

The Shocking Secrets of The Suitcase Baby

Right

Left

Author Tanya Bretherton talks about her writing process | International Women's Day

Right

Left

5 Minutes With...Tanya Bretherton

The Shocking Secrets of The Suitcase Baby

Right

Tanya Bretherton

Tanya Bretherton has a PhD in sociology with special interests in narrative life history and social history. She has published in the academic and public sphere for twenty years, and worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sydney for fifteen years. Dr Bretherton's specialty is converting detailed research into thought-provoking works which are accessible to a general readership. Currently she works as a freelance researcher and writer.

Her first book, The Suitcase Baby, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award, the Danger Prize and the Waverley Library 'Nib' Award. Her second book The Suicide Bride, was shortlisted for the Danger Prize and in 2020 she won the Danger Prize for The Killing Streets.