Rex v Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders
by Laura Thompson
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Description
A Tale of Two Murders is an engrossing examination of the Ilford murder, which became a legal cause ceþle`bre in the 1920s, and led to the hanging of Edith Thompson and her lover, Freddy Bywaters. On the night of October 3, 1922, as Edith and her husband, Percy, were walking home from the theatre, a man sprang out of the darkness and stabbed Percy to death. The assailant was none other than Bywaters. When the police discovered his relationship with Edith, she--who had denied knowledge of show more the attack--was arrested as his accomplice. Her passionate love letters to Bywaters, read out at the ensuing trial, sealed her fate, even though Bywaters insisted Edith had no part in planning the murder. They were both hanged. Freddy was demonstrably guilty; but was Edith truly so? In shattering detail and with masterful emotional insight, Laura Thompson charts the course of a liaison with thrice-fatal consequences, and investigates what a troubling case tells us about perceptions of women, innocence, and guilt. show lessTags
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Author Information
10+ Works 1,266 Members
Laura Thompson, winner of the Somerset Maugham award for her first book, The Dogs, is also the author of the acclaimed biography of Nancy Mitford, Life in a Cold Climate, and The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters, which was a New York Times bestseller. She lives in London.
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Rex v Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders
- Alternate titles
- A Tale of Two Murders: Guilt, Innocence, and the Execution of Edith Thompson
- Original publication date
- 2018
Classifications
- Genres
- Politics and Government, Nonfiction, History, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 364.152 — Social sciences Social problems and social services Criminology Criminal offenses Offenses against the person Homicide
- LCC
- HV6535 .G6 .L65849 — Social sciences Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Crimes and offenses
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 53
- Popularity
- 571,453
- Rating
- (3.42)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 2
