An Unspeakable Crime

The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank

By: Elaine Marie Alphin

Narrated by: Kevin Orton

Was an innocent man wrongly accused of murder? On April 26, 1913, thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan planned to meet friends at a parade in Atlanta, Georgia. But first she stopped at the pencil factory where she worked to pick up her paycheck. Mary never left the building alive. A black watchman found Mary's body brutally beaten and raped. Police arrested the watchman, but they weren't satisfied that he was the killer. Then they paid a visit to Leo Frank, the factory's superintendent, who was both a northerner and a Jew. Spurred on by the media frenzy and prejudices of the time, the detectives made Frank their prime suspect, one whose conviction would soothe the city's anger over the death of a young white girl.

The prosecution of Leo Frank was front-page news for two years, and Frank's lynching is still one of the most controversial incidents of the twentieth century. It marks a turning point in the history of racial and religious hatred in America, leading directly to the founding of the Anti-Defamation League and to the rebirth of the modern Ku Klux Klan. Relying on primary source documents and painstaking research, award-winning novelist Elaine Alphin tells the true story of justice undone in America.

©2010 Elaine Marie Alphin (P)2011 Recorded Books

Detailed

I would’ve liked a bit more follow up on Leo’s family and Mary’s family after Leo’s death but overall it seems like a thorough accounting of the events.

Excellent

I saw Parade on Broadway and wanted to delve deeper into the story of Leo Frank. This audiobook was excellent - lots of detail but still an interesting narrative. Outstanding narrator. Heartbreaking true story that I can’t believe really happened in 20th century America.

Very nicely done

Very well researched, very well narrated, extremely interesting listen. I highly reccomend this audio book.