2.5★s
Two Women and a Poisoning is a true-crime novel by German essayist, novelist and psychiatrist, Alfred Doblin. It was first published in 1924 as part of a series: Outsiders of Society: The Crimes of Today. This edition is translated from German by Imogen Taylor, who also writes the introduction, describing what the reader might expect. This edition also includes, (for comparison?) two essays about the crime written by others at the time of the trial.

The bare bones of the story are that vivacious young Elli meets a carpenter, Link. After a short courtship, they marry, their marriage deteriorates within months, and Elli meets Margarete (Grete). They fall in love, exchanging over six hundred letters in less than five months and, eventually, Elli is encouraged by Grete to kill Link by poisoning, claiming she plans to poison her own husband. After Link dies, they are arrested and tried.

Doblin calls his style of writing “factual imagination”, and it includes much detailed dissection of thoughts, feelings and emotions of the main players, perhaps to be expected from a psychiatrist. For the common reader, the style is excessively analytical to the point of tedium. He enhances his story with nineteen pages of Venn diagrams that are virtually impenetrable to anyone without knowledge of psychiatry.

Also analysed is the handwriting of both women whilst in custody, and Elli’s dreams whilst in custody. It’s true that writing style changes over the decades, so while this is hailed as a classic, it may not be to everyone’s taste: it may appeal to those with an interest in true crime and the psychiatric analysis thereof.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Text Publishing.