Parker and Hulme: A Lesbian View

by Alison J. Laurie, Julie Glamuzina, Aamna Qureshi

Book Overview

Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker were teenagers in New Zealand, ages 15 and 16, when in June 1954 they killed Pauline's mother. The murder resulted in a sensational court case, extensive local and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1563410656
• ISBN13: 9781563410659
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Firebrand Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

this is it, so far.......

So far, this is the only book I have been able to find on the Parker-Hulme matricide case. I normally wouldn't read a book about lesbians, and I thought lesbianism figured very little in the movie, but I didn't find it distracting here in the book, it didn't take away from the facts of the story. There are loads of details here that aren't in the movie, but I agree with others: why hasn't this been written about before, and especially now since Hulme is known to be the mystery writer Anne Perry? All in all, a very good book, and I read a lot of true crime!

Lesbian Focus aside

This is to my knowledge the only book out there exclusively about the Parker/Hulme case.Its a little shocking that another book hasn't been written about such a well known murder case, and in light of the fact that Juliet Hulme is now known to be Anne Perry,the famous mystery writer.I do agree that the lesbian angle was focused on a bit too much, even though that is a big part of the book.But it gives a lot of info about the case I hadn't heard before and a pretty clear picture of what happened.If anybody wants to know more about the story behind "Heavenly Creatures", read this book.

More Fuel for the Fire That Burns Within!

My first contact with the Parker and Hulme story came about one night in the 1960's. My interest at the time, during my own estrangement from the everyday world, was to go through old newspaper stories stored at San Francisco's Main Library. Late one night, while going through many newsclippings about the 1950's, I began to read this particular case and became increasingly moved. My tears fell all over the desk, and I never forgot what I had read. Years later, when the film came out, I was transfixed. And there aren't many films that I will buy on cassette to watch over and over, except Badlands and Heavenly Creatures. Eventually I got a computer, and of course went searching the internet for people who appreciate the same things as myself. The soul mate who put together a website asked if I had seen the book. And when I said I had not, she pointed out it was available here. The sub-title is "A Lesbian View." That soul mate, and others including myself, will disagree with the simplistic lesbian interpretation. And that controversy is at least a secondary aspect to this fascinating murder story. As with many other straight men, I find some lesbians to be quite erotic; but the friendship between Parker and Hulme appears spiritually intense and not very sexual at all. Whatever you think, especially if you saw the film and went absolutely bonkers, this book is worth buying.

Fascinating!

I'm a huge fan of the film "Heavenly Creatures," which is of course how I got interested in the Parker & Hulme case, and this book was recommended to me by some fellow HC fans. It's pretty much the only comprehensive study devoted to the case out there, and I find it quite well-written as well as very thorough and utterly fascinating. A must-read if you enjoyed HC, especially because it covers the trial and all that happened *after* the murder, unlike the film, and is chock full of detailed facts and accounts, as well as analysis and cultural context. Overall a wonderful book, I'd recommend it to anyone and especially those who, like me, became intrigued by this story after seeing HC.