The Devil In The White City Sparknotes

The Devil in The White City By: Erik Larson

Landon Tackett

Publisher: Crown Publishers

Year: 2003, Number of Pages #432

Plot: The novel spans the years of 1890-1895. There are two main points throughout the story. One is about a man by the name of Daniel Burnham who was a architect who built the Chicago Worlds Fair. The other concentrates of H.H. Holmes a serial killer who uses the fair to find his victims.

The book is overall is pretty interesting and keeps me intrigued in the parts of H.H. Holmes, however, the parts of the story Daniel Burnham was not to interesting, it didn’t seem like it really went with H.H. Holmes. I understand Daniel was who created the fair ground and the architect and H.H. Holmes found most of his victims at the

fair, but as far as having the two plots together I believe it should have only been about the murders and Daniel should have been a minor character.

Daniel Burnham along with his partner John Root was given task of building 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair the worlds Columbian exposition. The main goal of the Chicago Worlds fair was to improve the reputation of the city of Chicago. However, whenever they were just getting started Root, Burnhams partner suffers a illness and he dies before the fair really began construction. H.H. Holmes comes to Chicago in 1886 looking for work as a pharmacist. Holmes purchases a pharmacy very close to the World's Fair. Holmes buys a piece of property across pharmacy. He builds a building that has apartments for rent. Holmes hires his right hand man, Benjamin Pietzel who is his carpenter. Holmes, eventually murders his carpenter. While I am on the discussion of Benjamin, I will elaborate a little more on Holmes murders connected

to Benjamin. After Holmes, murdered Benjamin, he made it look like a suicide. Bens wife Carrie was very distraught. Holmes, convinced her to let him take their three young children which he did take them and ended up murdering them as well. Eventually Holmes would murder all of Carries children including her two oldest daughters Alice Pietzel and Nellie Pietzal. But it was the letters that Nellie was writing to her mother that eventually got Holmes caught. Nellie traveled to multiply cities with Holmes but writing to her mother from each city. Holmes killed Nellie in Toronto but that letter lead detective Frank Geyer to Holmes. H.H. Holmes committed multiply different crimes from murder, insurance fraud and forgery. Holmes would dispose of his bodies by many different ways from burning them in his kiln, carrying them out of his residence in a trunk and sending them to be made into skeletons.

Below is a list of some of the characters throughout the book and a explanation of them.

Danial Burnham: Architect for Chicago World Fair

John Root: Partner on building of World Fair, but passes before it even really gets started.

H.H. Holmes: Pharmacist, and murderer

Benjamin Pietzel: Carpenter to Holmes

Carrie Pietzel: Ben's wife

Alize Pietzel: Daughter of Ben and Carrie

Nellie Pietzel: Daughter of Ben and Carrie

Frank Geyer: Philadephia detective who investigates Holmes activities

Emeline Cigrand: Fiance of Holmes

Julia Conner: Girlfriend of Holmes and pregnant with his child

Pearl Conner: Daughter of Holmes girlfriend Julia Conner

I would recommend this book to others just because it is always a good thing to learn more of our history and things that happened in our country. Overall the book was ok the first 7 chapters weren't very intriguing but after that point it became more interesting. The main thing I took away from this book was the evilness the H.H. Holmes brought to the city of Chicago and the other cities he visited. I am convinced that the only reason he was found was due to the letters his victim wrote to her mother and the postage stamps of where she was, or I don't believe he would have been

caught.