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A sensational double murder might have inspired great American novel
A scholar says the 1922 New Jersey killings helped shape themes of wealth, affairs and murder in Fitzgerald’s novel, published three years later.
- Literary scholar Sarah Churchwell argues in her 2013 book "Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby" that F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, published April 10, 1925, was influenced by the sensational Hall-Mills Murder.
- On Sept. 14, 1922, Episcopal minister Rev. Edward Wheeler Hall and choir member Eleanor Mills were found murdered beneath a crab apple tree in New Jersey, sparking a national sensation that captivated millions including Fitzgerald.
- Both stories revolve around adultery crossing class lines, featuring wealthy people, deception, and death. Scholars identify thematic parallels between the real-life crime and characters including Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan within the novel.
- Newspapers dubbed the case "the murder of the decade." The 1926 trial featured star witness Jane Gibson, known as the "Pig Woman," testifying from a stretcher while Frances Hall and her brothers Henry and Willie Stevens faced charges.
- Fitzgerald died in Hollywood in 1940 at age 44 believing "The Great Gatsby" had failed, but the Armed Services Editions program distributed more than 150,000 copies to American servicemen after World War II, establishing it as a literary classic.
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Total News Sources21
Leaning Left0Leaning Right9Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center, 50% Right
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center, 50% of the sources lean Right
50% Right
C 50%
R 50%
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