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Post by Sue on Mar 7, 2022 8:59:54 GMT -5
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Post by Sue on Mar 8, 2022 17:39:37 GMT -5
Hi iloveDFW,
Thank you for letting me know!
I wonder how Betty will be portrayed?
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Post by Sue on Mar 9, 2022 14:15:16 GMT -5
No problem, iloveDFW.
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Post by IloveDFW on Nov 15, 2022 10:31:02 GMT -5
Hi Sue! The Nanny downloaded to my Kindle at midnight! Thank you so much for finding out about it last March. I can't put it down. It is SO well written that I literally have to keep reminding myself that it is only a novel and not true. And keep asking is the book for Betty or against her? I cannot wait to find out what is alluded to regarding Betty and previous "man of the house". Even though it's not true, this book is wonderful. Thank you for posting about it Sue! Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!🍗🍽🥧🍠
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Post by Sue on Nov 17, 2022 19:57:49 GMT -5
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,652
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Post by Joe on Dec 21, 2022 11:06:19 GMT -5
I'm listening to this book now on Audible. About a third of the way in and although it's classified as a novel, it so far appears to have been very well researched. It's also written in a highly-entertaining first person point of view (Betty Gow) with dialogue that by no means seems out of place in its day, and measured against our understanding of the true historical account. And the narration by Penelope Rawlins, voicing a full cast of the known players, really brings it to life!
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Post by lightningjew on Dec 22, 2022 21:16:58 GMT -5
Just finished it. It is indeed very well done, very entertaining. It presents Betty as the heroine of the whole thing, who--spoiler alert--puts it together in the end that it was Whateley. According to the novel, he gave tours of Highfields to passersby, one of whom was Hauptmann, who claimed he wanted a photo of the baby. In exchange for $3K, Whateley tipped Hauptmann off that the Lindberghs would be in Hopewell that Tuesday, but Hauptmann dropped the child when Lindbergh came home unexpectedly, having forgotten the NYU dinner. Whateley was either duped by Hauptmann into thinking he only wanted a picture of the baby, or was a much more sinister figure--resentful of his employer and afraid he and his wife wouldn't be provided for, as happened with Banks in Dwight Morrow Sr.'s will, so he became part of what he knew was Hauptmann's kidnap scheme. Whateley tried to frame Red Johnson by pointedly giving him a tour of Highfields when he and Betty dropped by, later deposited the $3K he got from Hauptmann under the name JJ Faulkner (a name modeled on a cricketer he was a fan of), but, the guilt eating away at him, Whateley died a few weeks later, though he nearly confessed on his deathbed. Anyway... It's a work of fiction, a very good one, and I think it's right the author places the whole thing in the house. If we had a sample of Whateley's handwriting to compare to the JJ Faulkner deposit slip and there was a match, the author might have something, but ultimately I think she begins with a false premise. My understanding is that those Highfields tours which Whateley supposedly gave never happened. Also, the author doesn't say anything about how Betty actually behaved when identifying CAL Jr.'s remains, just portraying that as it's usually described. And the whole "I was promised I wouldn't be touched!" thing seems a bit airbrushed too. When the real Betty Gow said that, the response was, "And who promised you that?" Answer: "Colonel Lindbergh." In the book, Lindbergh calls Betty and the Whateleys into his study and, in front of Schwarzkopf, says: "I trust these people implicitly, they are not to be touched," so, in the book, Betty saying that seems much less sinister than it came off in real life, with her simply reminding police of Lindbergh's instructions. Still though, well worth a read.
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Post by IloveDFW on Dec 22, 2022 21:32:45 GMT -5
Just finished it. It is indeed very well done, very entertaining. It presents Betty as the heroine of the whole thing, who--spoiler alert--puts it together in the end that it was Whateley. According to the novel, he gave tours of Highfields to passersby, one of whom was Hauptmann, who claimed he wanted a photo of the baby. In exchange for $3K, Whateley tipped Hauptmann off that the Lindberghs would be in Hopewell that Tuesday, but Hauptmann dropped the child when Lindbergh came home unexpectedly, having forgotten the NYU dinner. Whateley was either duped by Hauptmann into thinking he only wanted a picture of the baby, or was a much more sinister figure--resentful of his employer and afraid he and his wife wouldn't be provided for, as happened with Banks in Dwight Morrow Sr.'s will, so he became part of what he knew was Hauptmann's kidnap scheme. Whateley tried to frame Red Johnson by pointedly giving him a tour of Highfields when he and Betty dropped by, later deposited the $3K he got from Hauptmann under the name JJ Faulkner (a name modeled on a cricketer he was a fan of), but, the guilt eating away at him, Whateley died a few weeks later, though he nearly confessed on his deathbed. Anyway... It's a work of fiction, a very good one, and I think it's right the author places the whole thing in the house. If we had a sample of Whateley's handwriting to compare to the JJ Faulkner deposit slip and there was a match, the author might have something, but ultimately I think she begins with a false premise. My understanding is that those Highfields tours which Whateley supposedly gave never happened. Also, the author doesn't say anything about how Betty actually behaved when identifying CAL Jr.'s remains, just portraying that as it's usually described. And the whole "I was promised I wouldn't be touched!" thing seems a bit airbrushed too. When the real Betty Gow said that, the response was, "And who promised you that?" Answer: "Colonel Lindbergh." In the book, Lindbergh calls Betty and the Whateleys into his study and, in front of Schwarzkopf, says: "I trust these people implicitly, they are not to be touched," so, in the book, Betty saying that seems much less sinister than it came off in real life, with her simply reminding police of Lindbergh's instructions. Still though, well worth a read. Much better...and believable book than that comedy novel Suspect No. 1 and MUCH BETTER researched too.
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Post by lightningjew on Dec 22, 2022 22:38:25 GMT -5
It was. I don't think the author gets it "right", but again, it's a novel; she doesn't have to. Side note: She points out in an afterword that her interest in the case began when she saw the prologue of 'Murder on the Orient Express' (1974), which was inspired by the LKC. Same with me.
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Post by Michael on Dec 22, 2022 22:49:24 GMT -5
My understanding is that those Highfields tours which Whateley supposedly gave never happened. Never happened. I addressed this in V1 starting on page 77. Whateley chased people away. Even the men who moved Lindbergh from Lawrenceville to Hopewell weren't even allowed a map of the house. They also had "stand-ins" for them at times, Titus being one, and they also entertained their friends, the Humes, but these supposed tours just never took place. Here is something that was typical: imgur.com/a/ZFahRQiThis source, by the way, comes from the teletypes. Some teletypes are attached to reports, or were pulled for other reasons, but the vast majority of them were bundled up in the cabinet as well as in a few boxes locked up in the closet. They are a hard read, and I went thru stacks and stacks only finding a few here or there with unique information. I know that I was the only one to go thru them in a very long time because, when I asked Mark to remove the string from the packages, I watched as it literally disintegrated into powder when he did. Although I can't say if someone went thru them since, I highly doubt it. Personally, if anyone ever gets a chance to do research, I wouldn't recommend it because there's much more to find within the actual reports. I did it because I'm nutz and needed to make sure I wasn't missing anything. So days and days were spent to find a handful of things. Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent but wanted to share that experience to help others maximize their time at the Archives.
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