Death of a Jewish American Princess: The True Story of a Victim on Trial

✍ Scribed by Shirley Frondorf

• Publisher: Villard
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 281
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Elana Singer Steinberg (1947-1981) was found stabbed to death in her home in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. The likely murderer was her own husband, Steven Steinberg. The matrimonial homicide is not unlike the thousands that occur every since 1981 and still get attention. The author does a very good job in developing and explaining the background. I was puzzled and troubled by the fact that violence does not occur in Jewish American families which is really fictional. Dysfunctionality and abuse occurs in all parts of society. We just don't hear about cases involving an upper class couple like the Steinbergs in Arizona or Joel Steinberg/Hedda Nussbaum in New York City.

The author does valiantly explain the Jewish rituals, tradition, and belief system to her readers. For the most part, she doesn't explain why the Steinbergs and their circle never assimilated with non-Jews in their world. Things have changed a lot since 1981 in Phoenix where it has become a huge metropolitan area. Anyway, the book is interesting and paints both sides of the marriage doomed for years heading for disaster. The case is also different because the murdered victim, Elana Singer Steinberg, became defenseless in the courtroom as the defense team savaged her reputation as a nagging, annoying housewife who drove her husband to murder her in their own bedroom.