The Poison Principle

· Bolinda · Narrated by Wendy Bos and Helen Garner
Audiobook
8 hr 48 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook

When Dr William Macbeth poisoned two of his sons in 1927, his wife and sister hid the murders in the intensely private realm of family secrets. Like the famous poisoner Dr Crippen, Macbeth behaved as if he were immune to consequences; unlike Crippen, he avoided detection and punishment ... or did he? As time passed, the story of Dr William Macbeth, well-dressed poisoner, haunted and divided his descendants. Macbeth's granddaughter Gail Bell, who grew up with the story, spent 10 years reading the literature of poisoning in order to understand Macbeth's life. A chemist herself, she listened for echoes in the great cases of the 19th and 20th centuries, in myths, fiction and poison lore. This intricate story, with a moving twist at the end, is a book about family guilt and secrets, and also an exploration of the nature of death itself as Bell turns to her grandfather's poisonous predecessors, from Cleopatra, Madame Bovary and Napoleon to prolific serial killer, Harold Shipman.

About the author

Gail Bell was born in Sydney in 1950. She graduated from the University of Sydney in pharmacy and education. She has published short stories and articles, and her first full-length work, The Poison Principle, won the NSW Premier's Award for Non-Fiction in 2002.

Wendy Bos is an Australian actress and producer. She has appeared in dozens of theatre productions with several companies, including Spark Theatre Company, Fairly Lucid Productions and Adelaide Theatre Company. Her TV credits include Neighbours, Behind the Seams and McLeod’s Daughters. She has lent her voice to many audiobooks, including Sally Hepworth’s The Family Next Door, Murder in Williamstown by Kerry Greenwood and His Name was Walter by Emily Rodda.

Helen Garner was born in 1942 in Geelong and educated at the University of Melbourne. She worked as a high school teacher until her first novel Monkey Grip was published in 1977. It was an instant success, winning a National Book Council award in 1978 and becoming a film in 1982. Since then she has written full-time, publishing novels, short stories, essays, journalism and long-form non-fiction. In 2006 she received the inaugural Melbourne Prize for Literature and in 2016 the international Windham-Campbell Prize for her non-fiction work.

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