An Assassin in Utopia: The True Story of a 19th-Century Sex Cult and a President's Murder

From 1848 to 1881, a small utopian colony in upstate New York—the Oneida Community—was known for its shocking sexual practices, from open marriage and free love to the sexual training of young boys by older women. And in 1881, a one-time member of the Oneida Community—Charles Guiteau—assassinated President James Garfield in a brutal crime that shook America to its core. Sharing fascinating research from her latest book, New York Times bestselling author Susan Wels will weave together these explosive stories in a tale of utopian experiments, political machinations, and murder.