A Voice for Tillie

MaryAnn Abromitis McFadden calls herself a former journalist. Sharon Decker, English and Humanities Department Chair at Centenary University takes issue with that because of McFadden's extensive research into her latest book, The Cemetery Keeper's Wife.  I take issue with that because the book does exactly what journalism is supposed to do, it gives voice to the voiceless. MaryAnn proves she's still a reporter.

Since 1886 when Tillie Smith was murdered at the school, then called the Centenary Collegiate Institute, many of the stories have been about the case but not the victim.

To be sure, there are serious questions about the guilt of John Titus and Denis Sullivan's book about the trial was important to the story overall, but McFadden had another goal: to let people know who Tillie was.

Too often, the victim is lost in the sensationalism of a trial. That is exacerbated by the possibility of injustice. Titus wasn't helped by possibly incompetent counsel and yellow journalism that was only too prevalent at the time, but, guilty or not, he was only part of the story.

McFadden chose to tell the story as a novel. She created a modern-day character, Rachel, who auctions houses and discovers Tillie in much the same way McFadden did. Coming to Hackettstown from Brooklyn as a child, McFadden found Tillie's gravestone in the Union Cemetery and was intrigued by this young woman. Years later, while selling real estate, she ended up listing the house where Titus lived. These coincidences sparked an interest in the story and in Tillie herself.

The Cemetery Keeper's Wife was introduced on Tuesday, April 24, in the parlors of the Seay Building at Centenary to a packed house of family and friends as well as fans of McFadden's earlier books.

I can't review the book yet, but I can recommend anything by MaryAnn McFadden, former and present journalist.