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Be Good, Sweet Maid

The Trials of Dorothy Joudrie

By Audrey Andrews
Subjects Biography & Autobiography, Family & Relationships, Domestic Violence, Social Science, Women’s Studies
Series Life Writing Hide Details
Paperback : 9780889203341, 280 pages, October 1999
Ebook (EPUB) : 9780889203839, 280 pages, August 2011

Table of contents

Table of Contents for
Be Good, Sweet Maid: The Trials of Dorothy Joudrie by Audrey Andrews

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part One
Before the Trial

Dear Dorothy

Waiting

Preliminary Hearing

Polished Brass Doors

Memories

The Jury

Women’s Voices

Part Two
At the Trial

911

Earl

Guy and Carolyn

The Nanny

Dorothy

Dorothy I

Dorothy II

Dorothy III

Dorothy IV

The Experts

The Verdict

Part Three
After the Trial

Aftermath

Meeting

Unit 3-1

As the Earth Tips Slowly toward the Sun

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Description

January 21, 1995: Dorothy Joudrie is arrested for attempting to murder her estranged husband. Soon after, Audrey Andrews begins to write her book. Audrey and Dorothy had known each other as children, but the identification of Andrews with Joudrie goes beyond merely the accident of a childhood acquaintance. It has to do with being subjected to the same societal constraints placed on girls and women during the years immediately following World War II, the years in which they had prepared for their adult lives. Expectations, placidly accepted then, are now seen as unrealistic and unreasonable. Did these expectations have some part in causing the tragedy in Dorothy Joudrie’s life?

When Andrews attempted to understand why Dorothy Joudrie had tried to kill her husband, and to write Joudrie’s story, she began to examine her own life, her own expectations — those she had of herself and those others had of her. She also realized that telling the story of anyone is an intricate and often ephemeral pursuit. Any story she wrote could only be her version of Joudrie’s experience. Nevertheless, it was important to be as honest as she could about her interpretation of that life. She determined to show carefully and accurately the damage that had been done to one woman — damage that is still being done to many others — through prejudice, attitudes, traditions and the institutions that are still the foundation of our society, and of our lives, everyday.

The result is a fascinating account of events leading up to the trial, the trial itself and the effect of Joudrie’s trial on the life of Audrey Andrews.

Awards

  • Short-listed, Henry Kreisel Award for Best First Book, Alberta Book Awards 2000
  • Short-listed, Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction, Alberta Book Awards 2000

Reviews

``Intimate and telling. More than historical non-fiction, Andrews' account of the much-publicized Joudrie case is unflinching in its honesty, its criticism, and its understanding. It leaves little doubt that female stereotypes long believed dead are, in fact, alive and well in the conservative West. It is also a glimpse into the psychological dynamic of abusive relationships. The author's admitted lack of objectivity gives the book a new dimension, as a sounding board for her to explore the lives of various generations of women. ''

- Avenue, October 2000