THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF WALWORTH: A TALE OF MADNESS AND MURDER IN GILDED AGE AMERICA provides a scintillating view of the events that led to the destruction of one of the most distinguished families of the nineteenth century. The author brings the sensational murder to life by including a detailed view of the impressive Walworth and Hardin genealogies and then transitioning to the arrest of Frank Hardin Walworth. Although the evidence against Frank seems solid, only by reading his family history can readers truly understand what made this murder so controversial to nineteenth-century Americans.

Frank Walworth had warned his father to stay away from his mother, Ellen. Before embarking on a long journey across Europe with his uncle, Frank decides to pay one last visit to his father in order to make sure he will not be a threat to his mother while he is away. But Frank's fateful visit results in murder and Frank's arrest. Mansfield Walworth is shot in Frank's hotel room after Mansfield responds to Frank's invitation to visit him. Once the shots were fired, Frank confessed his deed to a hotel clerk and sent a telegram to his uncle asking him to look after his mother. But Frank's trial would evolve into a battle against the Walworth family's influence by the prosecution, and the defense would bring to light a long hidden family secret in the hopes of saving Frank: the taint of madness in the Walworth family.

During Frank's trial, the pathetic life of Mansfield Walworth would be splashed across newspapers across the country. Mansfield's vicious arguments with his wife, Ellen, would lead to repeated separations and physical abuse. The defense for Frank Hardin Walworth would provide a series of threatening letters Mansfield wrote his wife. Considered a failure by his legendary father, Reuben Hyde Walworth, Mansfield would find a scapegoat in his wife. Mansfield's utter failure as an attorney and later as a mediocre novelist would add to the bitterness that would slowly consume him. When Mansfield is left only a few minor trinkets in his father's will, he dedicates his existence to tormenting his wife, who he blames for his father's alienation.

Frank's defense rests on the threatening letters sent by Mansfield. It is hoped that the jury will see that Frank was only attempting to protect his mother, who Mansfield repeatedly threatened to kill for years. Frank's lawyers aim to prove that Mansfield was a tormented and dangerous man who may have murdered his wife had Frank not intervened, while the prosecution dismisses the letters as the ignorant words of a bitter man dwelling in his own misery.

Geoffrey O'Brien writes his history with pizzazz and makes the Walworth family history as fascinating as the trial of Frank Walworth. Readers who like a lot of flesh on their characters will appreciate the author's idea to include an in dept history of the Chancellor, Clarence Walworth, and the rest of the family. O'Brien vividly resurrects a historical murder case and writes the trial of Frank Walworth as exhilarating page-turner. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF WALWORTH: A TALE OF MADNESS AND MURDER IN GILDED AGE AMERICA makes good reading for history buffs or anyone looking for a compelling novel about dark family secrets.