THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY - Page 4 of 6 - book summaries and study materials

Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 14 – Remains of the Day

Summary It is the Christmas season 1891 at the Holmes building. Julia tells Holmes she is pregnant. He agrees to marry her under one stipulation: She must let him give her an abortion. She agrees, and the abortion is set to take place on Christmas Eve. Before meeting Holmes to […]

Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 13 – Vexed

Erik Larson

Summary Chapter 13 begins in the spring of 1891 and spans the rest of the year. Throughout this chapter, Chicago’s buzzing with activity surrounding the building of the fair, and Daniel Burnham busily faces multiple challenges head on. As the chapter opens, Burnham encounters a problem with the weight-bearing limit […]

Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 12 – Cuckoldry

Erik Larson

Summary While the architects and other interested parties are abuzz with fair-building activities, the Conners, Holmes’s residents, are experiencing turmoil. Gertie, Ned’s sister, wants to leave Chicago but won’t tell Ned why. Larson subtly implies that Holmes is responsible for Gertie’s interest in fleeing. Ned arranges for Gertie to go […]

Summary and Analysis Part II: Chapter 11 – Convocation

Erik Larson

Summary It’s now February 1891, and all the architects for the fair meet in Chicago to unveil their plans for the separate buildings they’ve designed. The men are amazed at the fair’s potential to be an architectural masterpiece. However, Olmsted only grows more concerned about his role as landscape architect. […]

Summary and Analysis Part I: Chapter 10 – Alone

Erik Larson

Summary The outside architects meet at Burnham and Root’s office to resume discussions about the fair despite the Easterners’ lack of commitment and confidence in the project. Burnham attempts to use flattery, only to be called out by Hunt. Burnham’s insecurities about his lack of formal education resurface with the […]

Summary and Analysis Part I: Chapter 9 – Vanishing Point

Erik Larson

Summary Ned Conner, his wife Julia, and daughter Pearl move into Holmes’s building so that Ned can run the jewelry counter in Holmes’s pharmacy. Shortly after, Ned’s sister Gertie moves into the building as well. Although Ned likes Holmes, he soon grows envious of the attention Holmes gives his wife […]

Summary and Analysis Part I: Chapter 8 – The Landscape of Regret

Erik Larson

Summary The East Coast architects, accompanied by Olmstead, make a trip to Chicago in January 1891. The day after their arrival in Chicago, Burnham takes the group of men to explore Jackson Park, the site for the Chicago fair. The men are unimpressed with the site and have many concerns, […]

Summary and Analysis Part I: Chapter 7 – A Hotel for the Fair

Erik Larson

Summary In 1891, H.H. Holmes begins construction on building renovations to create a hotel for the world’s fair coming soon to Chicago. Again to avoid suspicion, Holmes designs the building and hires and fires several work crews. Having acquired debts he never intends to pay off, Holmes simply finds new […]

Summary and Analysis Part I: Chapter 6 – Pilgrimage

Erik Larson

Summary After Root’s rough design for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is approved, Burnham builds living quarters for himself at Jackson Park, where he plans to live almost the entire time during construction of the fair. Burnham and Root make the decision to contact five of the most accomplished architects […]

Summary and Analysis Part I: Chapter 5 – Don’t Be Afraid

Erik Larson

Summary While Burnham and his associates contemplate fair sites, Holmes’s success as a pharmacist and business owner continues to flourish. Holmes travels to Minneapolis because he cannot take his mind off Myrta Z. Belknap, a beautiful, voluptuous, blond woman he had met in a prior trip there. He convinces Myrta […]