The Trial of Lotta Rae: The unputdownable historical novel of 2022

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I also appreciated how Lotta was portrayed as an extraordinary woman with a simple background, proving that you don’t need to be rich or highly educated to make a difference in the world. A gently flowing, delightfully gossipy read, I could easily picture the entirety shot in black-and-white vignettes, Woody Allen style. When the devastating verdict is announced it sparks a chain of tragic events that will alter Lotta’s life forever. For a start, there was so much packed into this book - war, suffrage, asylums, bereavement, rape, addiction, the criminal justice system, revenge etc.

The Trial of Lotta Rae: The unputdownable historical novel of

Hodkinson adds plenty of cultural colour too, and evokes what a game on a Saturday can mean to a town trudging through life’s grey travails. Evidence’ comes to light that she is not a virgin, so her accusation of rape is dismissed, because she is obviously ‘a woman of ill-repute’ and her attacker walks free, HIS reputation intact. She is from a family of great storytellers, the most prominent of which is her brother, Shane MacGowan ofThe Pogues.This one event leads them both on a course of shocking trauma and perdition, enemies in life and beyond, involving the actions of the Suffragette movement and the First World War. The Trial of Lotta Rae captured my imagination as right from the start I was on Lotta's side and yet as we discover justice isn't always on the side of the righteous.

The Trial of Lotta Rae (Audio Download): Siobhan MacGowan

When the verdict isn’t in her favour, the repercussions are devastating and far reaching for Lotta and her family. She is from a family of great storytellers, the most prominent of which is her brother, Shane MacGowan of The Pogues. Lotta also doesn’t know initially that Linden was told to lose the case or his failing career would be over.This is a book that was on my Christmas wish list as I had seen a few good reviews on bookstagram and, I'm not going to lie, I liked the shiny cover. When her attacker is triumphantly acquitted with no stain on his character, Lotta is publicly shamed as a fallen woman, even a harlot.