title: Marrying the Hangman: A True Story of Privilege, Marriage and Murder
author:  Sheila Weller 
description: In 1987 Diane Pikul, assistant to the publisher of Harper's magazine, was murdered in her Long Island, N.Y., summer house by her husband, Joseph Pikul, a Wall Street analyst with a penchant for cross-dressing. It's a uniquely urban tragedy, told brilliantly by Weller, who covered the trial for Ms. magazine. Diane, originally from Indiana, came to New York City in the '60s, to transform herself into a sophisticate. Managing difficult men was part of the process. When she opted for a wealthy husband she chose Pikul, and their lush lifestyle hooked her to a man she grew to hate. Weller has uncovered an amazing amount of detail. The portrait that emerges is so finely drawn that one can almost hear Diane laughing as she relates to friends the latest indignities she has suffered from her spouse. Shortly before her murder, Diane told friends that her estranged husband might kill her to get custody of their two children. The book shows how cockeyed laws allowed him that privilege while he was free on bail. He died of AIDS in 1989. Don't miss this one. Literary Guild alternate; author tour. <br />Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: **His Convict Wife**
  
   **Lena Dowling**
  
  ![](Images/image00116.jpeg)
  
   **His Convict Wife**
  
  Lena Dowling
  
   _From the author of_ The Convict’s Bounty Bride _comes a new Australian
  historical about a free settler and the wife he chooses from a workhouse..._
  
  For Irish convict Colleen Malone, being framed, transported to Australia and
  forced into prostitution seemed like the worst that life could throw at her.
  Then she fell pregnant to a client and was sent back to prison by her cruel
  owner. Now, her only hope of a decent life for her and her baby is to find
  someone to marry.
  
  Widower and former London businessman Samuel Biggs arrived in Australia hoping
  to put his grief behind him. When James Hunter offers him a job on his
  Parramatta farm, he accepts eagerly. He’ll put his back into his new work, and
  bury any thoughts of new love and marriage in the rich earth of his new home.
  
  However, all plans are compromised when Samuel is manipulated into visiting a
  workhouse to choose a new housek