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Canadian Authors - General fiction - |
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No Tears to the Gallows |
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 No Tears to the Gallows byMark Johnson McClelland & Stewart 240 pages, 2000 ISBN 0771044178 Reviewed by Zaheera Jiwaji Like Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman, Mark Johnson's No Tears to the Gallows captivates readers by bringing to light a little-known event in history. This time the setting is not Victorian England, but post-World War I Canada. Johnson's book recounts the infamous career of Frank McCullough, who rose to notoriety in 1919 when he was sentenced to be executed. Interestingly, McCullough's tale is less about the crime for which he was sentenced, and more about how this criminal succeeded in garnering support from the city of Toronto. At the end of the Great War, Toronto was as it is today, a bustling metropolis attracting both immigrants and citizens searching for a better life. It was also a time when authority figures such as judges and the police were generally mistrusted. The media was free and flourishing, and capable of guiding public opinion. Because McCullough presented himself as stoic and remorseful, citizens believed him innocent and championed for his pardon. McCullough worked as a bread deliveryman while he dabbled in theft and other petty crimes. No Tears to the Gallows begins on the day the police caught McCullough and his partner in crime Albert Johnson (no relation to the author) trying to sell stolen furs. Amid the confusion of the arrest a policeman was killed, and this is the crime McCullough is charged with. What follows is an engrossing tale of McCullough's childhood, his life of crime, the trial, and his time in prison during which he befriended his jailers, convincing everyone of his reformation through new-found Christianity. Parallel to this personal saga runs the cultural history of post-war Canada, rich with details of its emerging sense of nationhood. Johnson provides comprehensive endnotes, trial transcripts and several photographs to illustrate the text. No Tears to the Gallows is engrossing and enjoyable reading for crime and history buffs. Readers will shake their heads and be reminded that life is indeed, stranger than fiction. |
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