In the early 1790s Richard Randolph was accused of fathering a child by his sister-in-law Nancy and murdering the baby shortly after its birth. Rumors about the incident, which occurred during a visit to the plantation of close family friends, spread like wildfire. Randolph found himself on trial for the crime largely because of the public outrage fueled by these rumors.
A tale of family passion, betrayal, and deception, Scandal at Bizarre is a fascinating historical portrait of the social and political realities of a world long vanished.

Cynthia A. Kierner is Professor of History at George Mason University and the author of The Tory's Wife: A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America.