MADISON SQUARE TRAGEDY: THE MURDER OF STANFORD WHITE

Rick Geary (Author, Illustrator), NBM Comics Lit (Publisher)

> Review by Carolyn Marcille

Anyone growing up in the 80s will most likely remember Golden Books, those semi-instructional books that often populated a child’s bookshelf. The vibe of those beloved tomes is reproduced here, albeit in a more grown-up fashion. Madison Square Tragedy is the story of the true-life murder of the wealthy but highly questionable Stanford White by the husband of a young woman he had taken advantage of. But this isn’t a tale of “romantic revenge”; instead, it is a chilling story of power and madness combining. Geary presents the story in a straightforward manner, and as a result we are not necessarily sympathetic to any of the people presented, even when they are deserving of it. Geary is a very talented illustrator, but despite the story’s incendiary nature, his narrative remains detached. The book really does come across as being one step up from a children’s book, like A Child’s Garden of Murder, or something you would give an older child who is interested in true crime but isn’t ready for anything stronger. That being said, anyone interested in oft-ignored pieces of relatively local history should still give it a chance; if you don’t mind the detachment, Madison Square Tragedy succeeds at essentially being a documentary-in-print for the older set.