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Trespassers at the Golden Gate: A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco Audiobook
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The sensational, forgotten true story of a woman who murdered her married lover in Gilded Age San Francisco and the trial that epitomized the city's transformation from raucous frontier town into modern metropolis—from the New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Sin
Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. The woman fired a single bullet into his chest. “I did it and I don’t deny it,” she said when arrested shortly thereafter. “He ruined both myself and my daughter.”
Though little remembered today, the trial of Laura D. Fair for the murder of her lover, A. P. Crittenden, made headlines nationwide. As bestselling author Gary Krist reveals, the operatic facts of the case—a woman strung along for years by a two-timing man, killing him in an alleged fit of madness—challenged an American populace still searching for moral consensus after the Civil War. The trial shone an early and uncomfortable spotlight on social issues like the role of women, the sanctity of the family, and the range of acceptable expressions of gender, while jolting the still-adolescent metropolis of 1870s San Francisco, a city eager to shed its rough-and-tumble Gold Rush-era reputation.
Trespassers at the Golden Gate brings readers inside the untamed frontier town, a place where—for a brief period—otherwise marginalized communities found unique opportunities. Readers meet a secretly wealthy Black housekeeper, an enterprising Chinese brothel madam, and a French rabble-rouser who refused to dress in sufficiently “feminine” clothing—as well as familiar figures like Mark Twain and Susan B. Anthony, who become swept up in the drama of the Laura Fair affair.
Krist, who previously brought New Orleans to vivid life in Empire of Sin and Chicago in City of Scoundrels, recounts this astonishing story and its surprisingly modern echoes in a rollicking narrative that probes what it all meant—both for a nation still scarred by war and for a city eager for the world stage.
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"In this masterful work of true crime, Krist wraps a detailed portrait of a booming late nineteenth-century San Francisco around an engrossing account of a scandalous murder. . . . Krist recreates [Laura] Fair’s two trials—she was eventually acquitted on grounds of temporary insanity—with meticulous research and a novelist’s flair for drama. This top-shelf blend of history and entertainment is as edifying as it is exciting."
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Quotes
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In this masterful work of true crime, Krist wraps a detailed portrait of a booming late-19th-century San Francisco around an engrossing account of a scandalous murder. . . . Krist recreates [Laura] Fair’s two trials—she was eventually acquitted on grounds of temporary insanity—with meticulous research and a novelist’s flair for drama. This top-shelf blend of history and entertainment is as edifying as it is exciting.
— Publishers Weekly, starred review -
If it were possible to time-travel to any American city of the past, my choice would be post-Gold Rush San Francisco. . . . The book is a marvelous tour de force culminating in a trial that riveted the nation and exposed the sexual double standard even in this free-wheeling town. The nation hung on every word, and believe me, you will, too.
— Liza Mundy, New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls and The Sisterhood -
The story of the murder of a married man in 1800s San Francisco and the debate over the madness of his killer should thrill any true crime reader. In Trespassers at the Golden Gate, Gary Krist accomplishes what good nonfiction does best, offering readers a fusion of murder, intrigue, and solid research that shines a light on the dark corners of society.
— Kate Winkler Dawson, author of American Sherlock and The Sinners All Bow -
The Wild West in all its glory: the gold rush, adultery, and, ultimately, murder. Gary Krist draws an indelible portrait of the US’s tumultuous post-Civil War history.
— Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder and A Place for Everything -
If it were possible to time travel to any American city of the past, my choice would be post–Gold Rush San Francisco. . . . The book is a marvelous tour de force culminating in a trial that riveted the nation and exposed the sexual double standard even in this freewheeling town. The nation hung on every word, and believe me, you will, too.
— Liza Mundy, New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls and The Sisterhood -
The Wild West in all its glory: the gold rush, adultery, and, ultimately, murder. Gary Krist draws an indelible portrait of the United States’ tumultuous post-Civil War history.
— Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder and A Place for Everything -
A tale of mad love, murder, and the rough-and-tumble mores of early San Francisco . . . [and] a lively, richly detailed social history that ably brings together many narrative strands.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
An amazingly rich and detailed work of nonfiction of keen interest to anyone interested in the history of the development of San Francisco . . . [Trespassers at the Golden Gate] is much more than a crime story.
— Bay City News -
An amazingly rich and detailed work of nonfiction of keen interest to anyone interested in the history of the development of San Francisco . . . [Trespassers at the Golden Gate] is much more than a crime story.
— Bay City News
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About Gary Krist
Gary Krist has written for the New York Times, Esquire, Salon, the Washington Post Book World, and other publications. He is the author of the acclaimed The White Cascade as well as several works of fiction.
About Rob Shapiro
Rob Shapiro is a musician, writer, voice actor, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He performed several seasons of radio comedy on Minneapolis Public Radio and voiced the titular lion in Leo the Lion. He is a musician and composer with his critically acclaimed band Populuxe. He is also a business consultant and software system designer.