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

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There is a lot more of what she tells Lotta which tore at my heart. She was so right. But so difficult to believe in and follow the advice. Lotta is a happy 19 year old living with her Ma and Pa in Peabody house, Spitalfields she works as a typist at Whitbreads Brewery. Her life was shattered when she attended a works Halloween party with her Pa. During the evening Lotta had a tiff with her colleague and boyfriend Albert and upset she decided to get some fresh air. As she walked outside an older gentleman, Henry Alan Griffiths, who had an interest in Whitbreads Brewery and had previously made lewd remarks to her in the office, followed her outside and walked up to her expressing concern that she was upset, he roughly took her arm and suddenly pushed her against a wall and raped her. Betrayed by her counsel, with far-reaching ramifications for her family, her life takes a turn for the worse ultimately resulting in the loss of both her parents and colouring her outlook on life and God.

Black Friday and the Plight of Women in 1900s Britain

The Trial of Lotta Rae will make you furious. The way poor Lotta is treated by the judicial system is atrocious – the blame is for what happened is firmly at her door and the advantages of money and privilege work against her. Her happy life is ripped apart and she struggles to survive but makes good friends along the way. Lotta is a heroine you can’t hep but want to get behind. When the verdict isn’t in her favour, the repercussions are devastating and far reaching for Lotta and her family. Some years later, Lotta meets William’s son Raff and she thinks to punish her barrister for everything she has lost despite his promises and becomes friendly with Raff thinking she can get some sort of revenge on William.The book starts in 1906, covering events on the run up to World War 1 as well as the political goings on in the United Kingdom with the suffragette movement which both Lotta and Raff become involved with. It is not a book to read if you are feeling at all dispirited or prone to melancholia, for it accurately portrays a society where the rich and powerful can evade punishment, treat others without any respect or compassion, denying women a voice and believing that sending men to certain death during wartime an honorable deed. This review is written with thanks to Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read and review The Trial Of Lotta Rae.

The Trial of Lotta Rae by Siobhan MacGowan | Goodreads The Trial of Lotta Rae by Siobhan MacGowan | Goodreads

And I found echoes our own age. The Spanish flu of 1918. So called not because it originated in Spain but because a neutral Spain had no need censor their press to keep morale high. Consequently, they were first to report the pandemic, so like the Covid we have lived with. That we live with still. Twelve years later, as the suffragettes rise and the ghost of WW1 looms large over London, William is joined again by Lotta Rae. Now they will travel to a fateful destination, where truths must be faced and wrongs will be righted. Lotta and her circle express the optimism of the late Edwardian period, a sense that the new century would bring social change, equality and freedom. We know the devastating tragedy which was to unfold in the First World War and this makes the earlier optimism more poignant. Twelve years later as the suffragettes rise and the ghost of WW1 looms large over London, William and Lotta meet again. Now, they will travel to a fateful destination where truths must be faced and wrongs must be righted. There is something so very haunting and so very beautiful about this novel. Perhaps it comes from how fantastically it's written, maybe it's in how raw it feels, whatever it may be, it's there.Lotta Rae faces many trials throughout the novel and her sentence is genuinely one without end. Harsh, brutal and extremely sad you find yourself wishing for a world of peace and fairness. Charlotte Ray affectionately known as Lotta is raped by a despicable, wealthy male, Henry Allen Griffiths. Supported by her mam and pap, she makes the decision to press charges against him, believing that her lawyer William Lindon will fight the good fight and do her justice. What follows is nothing short of a travesty of justice, Griffiths is totally cleared of the rape and Lotta is branded a slut. Her devious lawyer Nicholas Linden deliberately mislead the jury so that Griffith was cleared of all charges. It seems we imagine there will be a harbinger of those days that come to shatter our lives. Will herald their arrival not with duplicitous blue sky, but a clutch of foreboding clouds. That we will be granted a sign. But the day it happened dawned comforting in its simplicity: sunny, fresh and bright. “

The Trial of Lotta Rae, a review by Shelley The Trial of Lotta Rae, a review by Shelley

I can see much suffering in your life. You have lost someone dear, perhaps more than one,’ she says. ‘And I see trouble there…perhaps one who….has wronged you greatly.’ Siobhan MacGowan is a journalist and musician who lived and worked in London for much of her life before returning to Ireland several years ago. She is from a family of great storytellers, the most prominent of which is her brother, Shane MacGowan, of The Pogues. It seems we imagine there will be a harbinger of those days that come to shatter our lives. Will herald their arrival not with duplicitous blue sky, but a clutch of foreboding clouds. That we will be granted a sign. But the day it happened dawned comforting in its simplicity: sunny, fresh and bright. "This story gave me all the feels, many of which were uncomfortable. From suffrage to the personal stories, I experienced it as a bystander and raged. This debut was excellent and I highly recommend this book to all feminists and historical fiction fans.

The Trial of Lotta Rae | Fox Lane Books The Trial of Lotta Rae | Fox Lane Books

Often when I blog about historical fiction, I mention how I had no idea about the historical event in question – but to my delight, I knew a little of the period in which The Trial of Lotta Rae is set, having studied this period for A-level history, many years ago and it was a period I particularly loved learning about. The crime perpetrated against Lotta, a humble clerk in a brewery office, on the night of Halloween 1906, has repercussions, for her and her legal representative, that echo through the next twelve years until her death. Revealing that she is dead by the end of the book is not a spoiler because it soon becomes apparent that her presence beside William Linden on an important journey, during which her story is told, is as a ghost haunting and tormenting him. A clever device which enables the author to reveal both his and her versions of the story side by side, as the two voices alternate.We are always delighted to hear from authors. We are currently open for review requests and we are happy to review a wide variety of genres. Please submit your information below and we will be in touch asap. The Trial Of Lotta Rae is one of those books where everything just seems to work.The storyline, setting, and characters, all come together to create a twisted, fabulous, masterpiece. I have seen my name become notorious. Lotta Rae. The talk of London. There was talk, much talk for sure. But was there truth? Was there justice?"

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