{"product_id":"a-tale-of-two-murders-guilt-innocence-and-the-execution-of-edith-thompson-hardcover","title":"A Tale of Two Murders: Guilt, Innocence, and the Execution of Edith Thompson - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLaura Thompson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA riveting account of the notorious \"Ilford murder\" by the\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Six\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe death penalty is never without its ethical conflicts or moral questions. Never more so than when the person being led to the gallows may very well be innocent of the actual crime, if not innocent according social concepts of femininity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Tale of Two Murders\u003c\/i\u003e is an engrossing examination of the Ilford murder, which became a legal cause ce le 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen the police discovered his relationship with Edith, she--who had denied knowledge of 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? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 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.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA writer and freelance journalist, \u003cb\u003eLaura Thompson\u003c\/b\u003e won the Somerset Maugham award for her first book, \u003ci\u003eThe Dogs\u003c\/i\u003e, and is also the author of the critically acclaimed biography of Nancy Mitford, \u003ci\u003eLife in a Cold Climate\u003c\/i\u003e. Her most recent book, \u003ci\u003eThe Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters\u003c\/i\u003e, was a national bestseller.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 448\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.6 x 9 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 06, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42166026961031,"sku":"9781681778716","price":28.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/5f1175d1b7b2334244618786ce48c189.webp?v=1733317927","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/a-tale-of-two-murders-guilt-innocence-and-the-execution-of-edith-thompson-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}