The Sinners All Bow
Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne

Quotes

One of Crime Reads’s Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2025
One of Minnesota Star Tribune’s 5 Hottest Books We Can’t Wait to Read in January

"A fascinating re-examining of a true-crime mystery that continues to unfold." —Jenny Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

“The Sinners All Bow is an utterly original reinvention of the true-crime genre, deconstructing a celebrated and historical murder-mystery while also catapulting the reader through a riveting and unpredictable tale.” —Michael Finkel, New York Times bestselling author of The Art Thief and The Stranger in the Woods

“Who killed Hester Prynne? In this haunting true crime investigation, Kate Winkler Dawson pursues justice for the real woman behind Hawthorne's heroine, Sarah Maria Cornell, whose mysterious death was initially ruled a suicide. Applying modern forensic techniques and joining forces with her 19th century counterpart, Catharine Williams, who wrote what is likely the first American true crime narrative, Dawson takes the reader on an intrepid and utterly gripping journey of discovery. Written in shimmering transportive detail, The Sinners All Bow is an exceptional work of historical reportage that resonates all too strikingly today.”—Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II

"The Sinners All Bow presents a compelling and well-paced mystery, one that captures some of the period’s most dramatic social conflicts." —Wall Street Journal

“Breakneck pacing, a novelist’s gift for scene-setting, and an edifying analysis of the overlap between the Cornell case and Hawthorne’s novel make this a home run. Readers will be rapt.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A fascinating approach to the story of Sarah Cornell, the woman whose death is said to have inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to create Hester Prynne in his 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter. . . . Required reading for true-crime aficionados and those fascinated by puritanical New England.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Through skepticism, attention to detail, and inventive framing, Dawson offers another compelling entry into the genre of historical true crime.” —Booklist

“Before there was Fleabag, the clergyman who most heated the public imagination was Arthur Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter….Did Hawthorne base these characters on the Rev. Ephraim Avery and his young congregant Sarah Maria Cornell, whose gruesome death in 1832 in Fall River, 50 miles south of Boston, shocked all of New England? So argues Kate Winkler Dawson in The Sinners All Bow.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Dawson grants Sarah Cornell a deep and affecting humanity—mirroring Williams’ approach in her own book. The Sinners All Bow is thus a worthy tribute to the genre’s inception, where true crime texts were both narratives of compassion and rallying cries against injustice.” —BookPage

“Dawson constructs the entire book with a clever, forensic hand that keeps it both suspenseful and eye-opening throughout.” —Bookreporter

“This book is a must-read for anyone obsessed with true crime tales.” —Amazon Book Review

“Equal parts educational, fascinating, and downright creepy, Kate Winkler Dawson once again raises the historical true crime bar.” .”—Karen Kilgariff, co-author of Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered and co-host of the My Favorite Murder podcast

“In her thorough examination of the difficult life and suspicious death of New England factory worker Sarah Cornell, skillfully applying 21st century forensics to this 19th century case, Kate Winkler Dawson succeeds brilliantly in pursuing her agenda to “return a voice to victims who have been silenced for centuries.” Her narrative study takes us beyond the sensational to reveal the social, religious and sexual conflict that ultimately led to Cornell’s death—and that influenced Nathaniel Hawthorne in creating the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter. The Sinners All Bow is historical narrative that makes a powerful argument for indispensability of truth in true crime.” —Paul Thomas Murphy, author of Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy

"In The Sinners All Bow, Kate Winkler Dawson has once again crafted an atmospheric page-turner that combines literary history, true crime, and the latest techniques of criminology. Deeply researched and highly suspenseful, Dawson's reportage of a little-known and unsettling crime in an old New England town not only influenced Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter, but also the way crime writing has been shaped since then. A captivating must-read for fans of true crime, and literary history at its finest." —Roseanne Montillo, author of Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire’s Wife, and the Murder of the Century

“Time and space collapse as Kate Winkler Dawson brings the rigor and methods of today’s forensic investigators to bear on a two-centuries-old murder case. Told with precision and compassion, this brilliant reinvestigation explodes myths and exposes prejudices to get to the bottom of a heinous crime and restore the victim's sullied reputation. A masterclass on researching and writing true crime.” —Dean Jobb, author of A Gentleman and a Thief and The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream

“Kate does something remarkable in this book—she reexamines a 200-year-old crime, using modern forensic techniques and her own shrewd insights, to come to a persuasive conclusion that eluded the original investigators. Gripping and powerful, this is true crime writing at its finest.” —Paul Holes, author of Unmasked and co-host of the Buried Bones podcast