Charlatan : the dishonest life and dishonoured loves of Thomas Guthrie Carr, stage mesmerist
Jinks, Catherine, 1963-2017
Book
Charlatan is story of a notorious nineteenth-century court case. With a driving narrative and novelistic pacing, this scrupulously researched account of the life of Thomas Guthrie Carr – who lied, fought and sleazed his way around Australia and New Zealand between 1865 and 1886 – is more than just a fascinating piece of social history. It’s also a mystery, a piece of true crime, and a delicately humorous portrait of a man whose eye for the main chance and ferocious pursuit of publicity makes him an oddly contemporary figure. With a star-studded supporting cast, including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Mad Dentist of Wynyard, the Nunawading Messiah, and a host of shady mesmerists, spiritualists, phrenologists and hired goons, Charlatan delves deep into a side of colonial history not often explored, and unearths a Victorian-era celebrity who should never have been forgotten.
Main title:
Author:
Jinks, Catherine, 1963-, author
Imprint:
North Sydney, NSW : Penguin Random House Australia, 2017.©2017.
Collation:
256 pages ; 24 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN:
9780143785545
Dewey class:
364.15320994
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
341075