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

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If you enjoyed The Familiarsand The Binding, you’ll love this sweeping and empowering historical novel, set in Suffragette England. On my mental well-being journey I've qualified in different 'therapies' including Mindfulness and as a Mental Health First Aider. I took my love of crochet one step further too with a crochet diploma. Read more 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. " It is full of tragedy and injustice. Lotta Rae is an ordinary girl from an ordinary working family who is treated abominably by the justice system and loses so much of what she holds dear throughout her tormented life. 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?"

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

Perhaps you are finding it hard to forgive….perhaps it is in forgiveness that your suffering will ease.’ This is by no means a lighthearted read. It’s real and it’s raw. It’s haunting, heartbreaking and totally devastating. 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. Forgiveness is not about pardoning the other person their wrongdoings….It is not about forgiving but forgoing. Letting go. In that acceptance you are released. You can banish the wrongdoer from your life, for it is not they but your own feelings of hatred and resentment that keeps you bound to them.’ He is a hypocrite. He aspires to morality and duty, but he sells his principles to advance his legal career and his social status.

Advance Praise

The Trial of Lotta Rae (Charlotte Rae) is a harrowing insight of the tremendous differences that existed in the early 1900’s between the honest, poor, hardworking people and the elite in society not only in monetary terms but justice and respect. At this time Emmeline Pankhurst and her suffragettes were fighting for the emancipation of women, marching through London in the hope that Prime Minister H H Asquith would sign a Bill giving women the right to vote. The main character, Lotta, is the most wonderful creation and I desperately wanted to change the direction she was moving in but powerless to help I read on knowing what was to come. I could not put this book down so engrossed was I in Lotta and her story.

The Trial of Lotta Rae By Siobhan MacGowan | Used The Trial of Lotta Rae By Siobhan MacGowan | Used

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. But in times to come it will be this part that I remember the most vividly. Shortly after another tragedy which I can’t mention because of spoilers, Lotta visits a spiritualist in Camden. 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. But the verdict is devastating, the consequences unimaginable. When Lotta discovers she has been betrayed, she vows to deliver her own justice.After losing the case, Lotta is forced from her usual employment to a Soho brothel. Her father’s reaction to the case finds him on the wrong side of the law, no longer of any help to his family. Lotta’s experiences make her hardened to the world around her and into the arms of the Suffragette movement. The book details the struggles faced by the movement on their way to make a fairer, more equitable world. This book begs to be awarded 5 stars simply because one cannot ignore the exceptional writing throughout what is a harrowing but compelling story set in the lates1800s/early 1900s, encompassing WWI, and a society seemingly very different to today's, but in actual fact scarily relevant.

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

The writing is so compelling and completely pulls you into the story, evoking empathy throughout every scene. This was difficult to read. I felt sorry for Lotta Rae throughout the whole book. As difficult as it is to read, it is also compelling. Lotta is raped by a drunken wealthy gentleman. Lotta’s family may be working class but they have high morals. Lotta is determined to give evidence in a trial which is tilted against her. The barrister has a lot to lose both professionally and personally if he loses this case. Neither of them knows exactly how their lives will become entangled in the future.It really brings home the reality of life for a working class woman in the beginning of the twentieth century and the power of a wealthy, influential gentleman. The plot is nice but I found it quite weakly supported by historical facts except for the Suffregette movement with some historical figures that appear in the storyline. For the rest, it is pure fiction. I was curious in the end to see if the author would have explained it was loosely inspired by real facts but apparently is not. From my knowledge of the the history of crimes related to gender based violence and related trial, it sounds improbable that a woman from the working class in those years would have ever press charges against a rich man for rape. It would be nice to imagine it could have happened but, as a lawyer who has read and studied the first of such trials, the way dialogues are developed and Lotta's standing in the trial is how a much more modern woman would have approaches it. It sounds really unrealistic. This was quite disappointing for me. A teenage girl, Lotta Rae, at the dawn of the 20th century makes plans for future which are shuttered one night and which open ways to several tragedies befalling herself and her family. A strong female protagonist and her male counterpart become rivals involved in a dangerous game which is called having knowledge and power. This is a good read and kept me interested, however, as the plot unravelled, I felt bigger distance towards Lotta. There was something missing in her to make me connect with her more. For some reason, I seem to resist a lot of historical fiction, even though when it is written as well as The Trial Of Lotta Rae, it can be completely consuming and compelling. I chose to read this book almost on a whim, and I am so glad I did, as it turned out to be one of my favourite books of the year so far. MacGowan handles such strong emotions which are all described so beautifully that I could imagine myself walking alongside these characters, despite their lifestyle and beliefs being very different to mine.

Books in brief: Stories of isolation and grief, and the death

The brewery where respectable working-class Lotta (Charlotte) Rae and her beloved father earn their living always holds a party on Halloween night. During the gathering in 1909, Lotta is raped by a wealthy gentleman, an acquaintance of the owner. Her father is devastated and encourages her to press charges. The case comes to court where she is defended by an up-and-coming barrister, William Linden. She trusts him implicitly and so tells him absolutely everything about her life. Halloween night, 1906. Lotta Rae is assaulted by a wealthy gentleman and bravely takes him to trial alongside her barrister, William. 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?” 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.

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MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window) A gripping story of injustice, intrigue and revenge set at the turn of the 20th century' - Irish Times Oh Lotta! How much sadder could your life become? I loved this book, but some mornings I would wake and dread reading the next stave (we read in 10 staves with The Pigeonhole) thinking ‘can things get any worse for her?’ And they did, till by the end I was in floods of tears, but not just for Lotta.